


Sara means Sun

by booksareourlove



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Big Bang 2018, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Demon!Alvarez, Elv!Laila Dermott, F/F, Friendship, High Fantasy, Immortals, Plot Twists, Strangers to Lovers, but i did listen to the doctor who bad wolf theme near the end, happiness exists don't worry, sword girlfriend and knife wife, this is very Trojan centric and very plot heavy and made me cry several times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-22 07:05:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15576462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booksareourlove/pseuds/booksareourlove
Summary: Five years ago, ships with black and red sails appeared on the horizon and wiped out all of the royal family - except one. The Raven King conquered Coralia and is doing everything he can to stay in power. Jeremy of Troia, the rightful heir to his kingdom, has been in hiding for the past five years, but he found something worth fighting for.Laila, an Elven Warrior and Jeremy's best friend, will do anything to protect him. Meeting a cute stranger isn't going to change that.





	1. I will be with you, in life and death

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you and hugs and tons of admiration go to my artist, Bobby Joe Bubblegum and his Parade of Bedazzeld Bumble Bees™ who also doubled as a beta (and saved me from so many plotholes and word repetitions). You give this story life and your art is seriously the best thing ever. I'm honoured to have your art here. Find him on [tumblr](https://sisaloofafump.tumblr.com) and on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/sisaloofafump/)
> 
> A big thank you to everybody in the aftg bb discord chat. Y'all saved me countless of times and I cannot say how much of an amazing experience it was to write with you all. And [defractum,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyargles/pseuds/defractum) who organized the Big Bang. Without you, this would not exist.
> 
> As the chapters have very different lengths, I recommend clicking the "Entire Work" button at the top of the page. Happy reading :)
> 
> Warnings: High fantasy typical violence, with sword fights and people dying. References to murder/torture. Major character death.

The spring moon illuminated the young, light green leaves in the heart of the forest where Laila held her night watch. The night was still cold, but the trees were glowing with warmth. The grass plastered the ground with a soft carpet. The pale light made the trees shine in silver and the small droplets of water that were forming on the low branches next to her mirrored the sky.

 

These were her favourite hours, just before the stars would fade and dawn would break. When she was a child, her mother used to joke that Laila had befriended the moon, and it’d keep her up playing with her. Although Laila did treasure the earth’s twin planet, she was always looking out for the stars, and staying up until the hours before sunrise, wishing them good night.

 

She had learned to cherish the moments she was able to spend awake in the night, listening to the soft sounds of the wind and watching the sky. When the stars did not appear, she would ask the skies to extend her greetings. Tonight though, the stars were bright and the moon was as it always was: a red and gold landscape of hills and valleys, only visible when the sun was low, floating in the sky. She loved nights like this, and it reminded her of the night the Sun Prince had been born eighteen years ago, in Coral, the mortal capital city at the coast of the salty sea.

 

Laila remembered that night vividly. It had been her first time leaving the Forest Court – something rare and dangerous, but on the invitation of Queen Yereya, the Elven Court had sent their delegation. So Laila and other Warriors had travelled through the hills and fields of mortals, mortals who talked in admiration of their Queen.

 

The sea had easily been more breathtaking than any Elven poetry she had heard before, and the capital pulsed with so much life that it numbed her perception and she was left only to wonder. The palace had been bright and filled with light from the tall glass windows overlooking the blue, blue sea. It was so different from the calm and quiet beauty of the forest she called home.

 

That night, Jeremy was born. Laila remembered his eyes, brighter than the ocean, sprinkled with the light of the sun. When he had smiled at her, she had quietly sworn to protect him. Maybe it would have been a tiny thing for a Human, to vow to protect a child. But she wasn’t Human, and the laws of her people allowed her to visit Jeremy whenever her Warrior training and assignments would allow. She remembered her last journey to the coastal city in Coralia vividly, just as she remembered finding the thirteen-year-old boy, covered in his family’s blood but somehow still breathing.

 

That was when the Moriyama family took the crown.

 

Now, five years later, Jeremy was a protégé of the Elven reign in the depth of the forest, surrounded by trees older than the Humans who came from the sea long ago. After the murder of Jeremy’s parents, the Moriyama family made themselves a crow while the Forest Court had stayed true to its old law to stay neutral during any kind of conflict. Allowing Jeremy to stay had been on the condition that he stayed for as long as there was conflict in Coralia.

 

Still and unmoving, Laila stood by a thick tree whose stem was covered in moss and watched as the stars slowly moved between the branches. She knew there’d be no sleep for her today. Jeremy had been restless all week.

 

She heard his breathing before she heard his footsteps.

 

Jeremy was as tall as her, which was not that tall, but while her skin was fair and her hair was silver, his skin was tanned and his dishevelled hair was brown. Then there were her pointy ears and his rounder, smaller ones. He wore green pants and a tunic, a sword strapped to his back and a bag over his shoulder. She knew he had more weapons, but they were not visible.

Just when he was about to pass her, she stepped in his path.

 

His eyes widened in surprise. Then he smiled a small smile, almost apologetic. “Laila,” he greeted, but his voice cracked and his hands were shaking.

 

She returned the smile. “Good morning, Jeremy.”

 

“I… I need to leave,” he said.

 

“Did you have another nightmare?” Laila asked. Jeremy was her friend and she knew him almost as well as she knew herself.

 

Jeremy shuddered. “Yes. No. I need to leave.” He cast his eyes to the ground and raked a hand through his hair. “The Court will see me going to Coralia as a violation of their law. Please forgive me.”

 

“I know,” she replied. “I am coming with you.”

 

Jeremy’s eyes widened for a fracture of a second and he looked up. “Why?”

 

“Because eighteen years ago, I swore an oath.” Even though Laila had explained this to him in the past, Jeremy still seemed to misunderstand parts of it.

 

“But you’re an Elven Warrior. You cannot abandon your duties to the Forest Court. To your _home_ ,” Jeremy knitted his brows together, “I’m just a mortal who was allowed to stay.” He gritted his teeth. “The Elven Folk has done nothing to help Humans five years ago and they won’t now.”

 

“You are my friend,” Laila said. “Of course I am coming with you.”

 

Jeremy opened his mouth to argue but Laila lifted up her bag and motioned in the rough direction of where the immortal forest bordered to Coralia.

 

“I am with you, Jeremy. It has been eighteen years! That should not be a new concept for you.” She looked over her shoulder and grinned at the perplexed Prince. “Happy eighteenth Birthday. Are you coming? We have to sneak past the wards, and I have not done this since training.”

 

“I... yes,” Jeremy scrambled to keep up with her and not fall over the roots. They walked side by side on the ancient forest path leading away from their clearing. “You mean to tell me you were not always a grumpy Warrior who’d rather sleep at midday than do literally anything else?”

 

“I am a cool Elv, Jers,” Laila said, feeling the warmth spreading in her chest at Jeremy’s attempt to lift their spirits. In the past years, they had learned to lift each other’s spirits even after a nightmare brought back a memory they’d rather not see.

 

Laila pushed Jeremy off the path under a low bridge just as two voices rang through the early morning. The Elven Court itself was technically a bunch of tree houses in old, tall trees around a clear pond, but the wards surrounded much more than that. The city was all in the trees, connected through bridges of branches.

 

“... more Ravens,” a voice Laila thought sounded like one of the Warriors said.

 

“How bold,” another voice answered.

 

Jeremy glanced at Laila.

 

“It’s one of the Warrior patrols,” she whispered.

 

“At this rate, we might have to prepare for defence soon, but you never know when it comes to them...” the first one continued, his voice fading.

 

Jeremy furrowed his brows. “Who? What are they talking about?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Laila answered. “They mentioned Ravens.”

 

“If they’re going that way,” Jeremy said, pointing the way the voices had vanished to, “then nobody is watching the outpost.”

 

Laila nodded and pulled down her hood. Hurrying from shadow to shadow, they left the city, only pausing one more time to avoid being spotted. They slowly left behind the labyrinth of bridges and stairs. When no sign of Elven architecture surrounded them anymore, they finally slowed down.

 

She was really leaving. Listening to the forest wake up always made her sleepy, but today she was wide awake. Leaving the Court was no normal thing. She’d done so only at the direct order of the Eldest in the Court. And this felt different. It was different. She was an Elven Warrior, and Elven Warriors did not leave the forest without permission. Elven Warriors especially did not go to fight in a war when the Court stayed neutral.

 

As they walked away from the ancient trees, younger trees started to take their place, maples and oaks and pines. The sun slowly coloured the gray sky in oranges and reds and then in blue, the sunlight streaming through the branches of the trees. The fog evaporated and the few wildflowers in the sunny spots between the trees began to blossom in the light. Laila’s steps were soft on the grass and when the birds began to sing, she dared to close her eyes for a few breaths.

 

Jeremy’s steps were loud compared to hers, but it had always been this way. He stepped on twigs no matter how often she explained to him that he could just step next to them.

 

The sun was on top of the sky when they reached a small stream and she lowered herself to drink. A few feet downstream a clearing opened up between the trees and the river got wider, slower. They had been here before, training. Or Jeremy had been, with an Elven Warrior student who had been assigned to teach him how to use a sword properly. Laila had watched and occasionally corrected Jeremy’s stance.

 

Jeremy’s life in the Forest Court was shaped by either learning how to wield a sword or how to be protected by Warriors. And yet no Raven soldier had ever made it this far into the Forest.

 

The Moriyama family had tried and failed to invade the Court as the Court protected their own. But at the same time, the Elves had turned away when thousands of innocents died at the hands of Riko Moriyama on his rise to power. Eighteen years ago, Laila would not have questioned her people. But then Jeremy was born, and she knew back then that he deserved her loyalty more than her people ever would. Now, a voice in the back of her head told her that she had been right.

 

“Do you think they’ll follow us?” Jeremy asked.

 

“No,” Laila answered. “We just might not be welcome upon our return. But we might not need to.” When she looked at him, his eyes were serious.

 

“I’m not afraid of Elven Warriors when you’re here,” he said.

 

They continued on their way after that, watching the sun rise between the leaves, and eating while walking. Not too long after the sunset and the moon appeared between the stars, Laila and Jeremy settled in the branches of a walnut tree.

 

The trees were old and tall here, but the branches still weren’t as thick as the average branch in the Court. She just hoped she wouldn’t roll over and fall off, but she guessed she would have to worry more about that from Jeremy, who fell asleep on the thick branch next to her. They had both taken a thin but warm blanket with them and some food that would last them a few days.

 

All in all, they had enough to push them through a week outside of the forest, but sooner or later they would need to find more food and water. But Laila would worry about that later since even the bare branches of the giant tree seemed as comfortable as a bed of feathers. As her eyes found a star through the tiny spring leaves of their tree, she felt herself finally slipping into welcomed unconsciousness, just to be awoken by a startled cry and a foreign name on Jeremy’s lips.

 

She moved out of instinct and grabbed the first thing she reached, an elbow, steadying Jeremy before she managed to blink the sleep from her eyes.

 

“Jean,” he whispered again, and for a moment Laila could see the smiling face of a boy not much younger than Jeremy, with raven hair and grey eyes alight in mischief.

 

She sat over next to him so close their thighs were touching, like all those other times when Jeremy had been woken up by nightmares and gone out to seek her. Comfort was all she could offer right now.

 

“I’ve never dreamed that vividly. Is it possible to have visions? He was... I don’t know. It was like yesterday night.” Jeremy swallowed audibly.

 

“Dreams are magic in their own way,” Laila told him, “sometimes you reach for them and find yourself unable to find it, sometimes they come to you.”

 

“I – he’s – he’s being...,” Jeremy stammered. “He’s in so much pain. I had bad dreams before, you know that, but never about him. Why now?”

 

Laila sighed. “Magic is what connects us, Elves, Humans and Demons. Most beings are unaware of its existence. Sometimes dreams are a form of communication.” When Laila looked at him, his shoulders were hunched and something like despair painted his face.

 

“There was something strange about the dream,” he whispered. “But it was Jean. And he was dying. We need to free him. I... I think he’s at Evermore, the Moriyama castle. I might die, but I won’t ever be able to live with myself if I don’t try.”

 

“I will be with you, in life and death,” she answered him with the words of the oath she spoke in her head all those years ago, “now and always, Jeremy of Troia.”

 

He might not explicitly ask her, but she knew he didn’t want to be alone in this. And he wasn’t.

 

 


	2. Lost souls and reverie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a line from the song "Renegades" by X Ambassadors.

 

The sun was high in the sky when Laila and Jeremy stopped at a small stream to take a break. The forest was changing, instead of tall trees surrounded by vines and Elven constructs, the trees painted an irregular pattern of dark evergreen and the light green of blossoming leaves, oaks and pines and the occasional maple. Jeremy had been silent the whole morning, and Laila couldn’t blame him.

 

“We will be crossing into Coralia tomorrow,” Laila said. She could feel the magic of her people still seeping through the ground, but it was weaker here. They were too far in the forest for Humans to walk these paths, but far enough from the Court to not cross paths with another Elv.

 

“Good,” the Sun Prince said. He got to his knees beside the water and washed his face, tangling his wet fingers through his hair. A small sigh escaped him. His hands shook as he brought water to his lips to drink. Laila sank to the soft grass next to him to drink, too.

 

Jeremy tended to not eat when he was stressed, be it because someone bothered him about archery or Rhemann’s poetry class. Laila was just about to take out some fruits when the shrubbery across the stream moved and rustled, and a curse sounded through the peaceful sounds of the forest.

 

Shadows like butterflies floated through the air, spiralling like smoke. A person stumbled out of the shrubs, wearing shadows like a cloak, her dark hair flying through the air before gravity claimed her and she fell face first into the water. A pissed-off looking girl climbed out of the shallow water, black coat dripping and heavy from the water, shadows swirling slow around her ankles. When she shakily got to her feet on the opposite riverbank, there were leaves and small sticks in her tangled, now wet, black hair, and streaks of dirt on her dark brown skin.

 

“Flying flips!” She cursed as she got to her feet. “Fuckin’–” She abruptly shut up, her eyes finding Laila and Jeremy just a few metres away.

 

“Um, hello,” Jeremy said, ever the friendly guy taking the first step. “Who are you?”

 

“Who are _you?”_ said the stranger said looking both Laila and Jeremy up and down. “The most important question is, _where the fuck_ am I?” She looked up at the sky with confusion before focusing on the Elv and the Human.

 

“You are within the borders of the immortal forest,” Laila decided to enlighten the girl, who admittedly looked more like a wet cat than a scary, immortal being of darkness. “And I believe the question is how you got here.” The Demon’s gaze burned when she met Laila’s eyes, sending shivers up her arms. She looked into the Demon’s dark eyes until they turned away, focusing on Jeremy.

 

“I think materializing out of thin air is pretty cool,” Jeremy smiled. Laila did her best not to sigh at his excited face. “Where did you intend to go?”

 

“None of your business,” said the Demon, and shadows appeared around her ankles. “And I didn’t materialize out of thin air, I fucking fell over my coat,” she said, grimacing. “Because I got lost. Again.” Her shadows flickered. Laila couldn’t help the amusement in her chest.

 

“She is cute,” Laila said. “And she probably has no idea what she is doing.” She couldn’t keep the smugness out of her voice, and the Demon noticed.

 

“Hey!”

 

Laila ignored her. “Anyways, we should be on our way...”

 

A shadow passed Jeremy’s face and Laila regretted reminding him of how little time they had. A few more minutes wouldn’t have hurt, as the Demon seemed to not pose an immediate threat.

 

“Wait!” The Demon called. “At least tell me in which direction stuff is because everything looks the same.”

 

“Where did you want to go?” Laila asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/164131576@N06/30466057918/in/photostream/)

The Demon stopped the attempts at wringing the water out of her hair and met Laila’s eyes once again. “I’m not a Raven if that’s what you’re asking,” she said. “I’m looking for a friend, who lives in the woods. Somewhere here. I hope.”

 

Laila exchanged a glance with Jeremy. His eyes expressed everything she needed to know. _“This could be dangerous,”_ she told him in the Elven language. Her words sounded light and soft, a music that was reserved for poetry.

 

 _“She seems harmless,”_ Jeremy answered in the same language, his grammar totally wrong but still understandable. _“Maybe she could help us, though? We don’t know how Coralia changed in the last five years.”_

 

“You’re aware that I have no idea what you just said?” The dark-haired Demon complained. “Please don’t murder me, I plan on adopting cats sometime.”

 

Jeremy chuckled. “No, we’re gonna help you, if you don’t mind. What’s your name?”

 

Laila softened. If this Demon managed to make Jeremy laugh more often like that, she’d like to keep her. And she also didn’t seem particularly dangerous, with the algae on her shoulder and mud on her knees.

 

“I’m Alvarez,” she said, bowing ironically. “To whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

 

A shout rang through the air and three Humans dressed in black from head to toe cut through the shrubbery where Alvarez had come from. The Moriyama crest, a blood red Raven with a crown, sat on their chests. They wore metal helmets and chainmail painted black, but otherwise seemed to travel lightly.

 

“There!” One of them shouted and pointed into Alvarez’s general direction.

 

Alvarez jumped to Laila and Jeremy’s side of the stream, drawing daggers from her cloak. “I’m sorry for leading them to you, I guess,” she said. “They _might_ have been following me since Palmetto, and I _might_ have only strayed this far into here to shake them off,” she admitted.

 

Laila calmly stepped between her prince and the attackers, drawing her twin swords. They were moderately curved, double-edged elegant blades, perfectly balanced. Laila had practised with them ever since starting Warrior training as a child. Distinctly, she heard Jeremy pull his own sword, a straight, intricately engraved Human design.

 

“Look at that,” one of the Ravens drawled, gesticulating. “A Demon, an Elv and a Human, thinking they stand a chance.”

 

“The Dark King knows no mercy,” another said, her voice female, but her face hidden behind a visor. “Die.”

 

The first Raven lifted his sword above his head and moved to jump over the stream. Laila wasted no time pushing herself off the ground, spinning in the air and slicing her swords through his stomach in midair. Blood splashed out of the deep wounds and Laila barely avoided getting squished under him as they both landed roughly in the water, red spreading quickly. A sharp pain started in the back of her head but she decided to ignore it.

 

Cursing, she rolled to her back and lifted an arm to block the strike of the second Raven, her eyes fierce and dark behind her visor. Laila’s arm trembled under the force of the blow, blocking the entire weight of the soldier.

 

Over the blood rushing in her ears she heard metal meeting metal, the third Raven attacking Alvarez – or the other way around. She wanted to lift her left arm and stab the Raven, who was practically lying on top of her, but the Raven had a knee on her elbow, pinning her down.

 

“Fuck you,” Laila said, just for good measure.

 

Then the weight was suddenly gone, and she scrambled to get up, her arm numb to her side, sword slipping through her fingers. Whatever, she could worry later.

 

Jeremy and the Raven were fighting, swords clashing. He narrowly dodged a fist to the face and retaliated by kicking the soldier in the knee, knocking her sword out of her grip when she stumbled backward. Then he hesitated, sword raised for the killing blow.

 

It occurred to Laila that Jeremy had never killed another living thing, being only thirteen and definitely no fighter when his family was killed. With the Forest Court’s policy of not killing any animals in the forest and befriending the occasional mountain lions and deer, death and dying was a Human concept and only found in nightmares and memories.

 

It took only this fraction of a second for the Raven soldier to draw a knife from her sleeve and lash out and Jeremy, cutting his thigh. It only took one more fraction of a second for Laila to sink her blade into the woman’s heart with her still functioning arm.

 

Jeremy was bleeding, a lot, or maybe it just seemed like a lot as Laila’s vision was blurred and a throbbing pain pulsed through Laila’s left arm and shoulder. Belatedly, she realized that she must’ve hit her head on the stones by the water.

 

Her blade slipped out of her hand and clattered on the stones, and Laila shakily helped Jeremy sit down, a safe distance from the bleeding corpse of the Raven. The first one, the one she’d nearly cut in two, was on the other side of the small river, face drained of all colour, dead. She watched as Alvarez wiped her daggers on her muddy pants, the body of the third Raven to her feet.

 

“Alvarez,” Laila called, pressing a shaking hand on Jeremy’s thigh. He winced, but she only pressed harder. “I have some bandages in my bag. Could you…”

 

Jer was bleeding out and everything blurred. Jer was bleeding out and Laila could only see stars. Jer was bleeding out and the world was engulfed by black.

 

A voice came to her, like water, “it’s not that bad, Laila, I’m fine,” and it sounded like Jeremy’s voice but then the world was silent.

 

 


	3. Oh, you lost world

 

Something wet was on her face. And it moved.

 

Laila blinked and the warm wet moving thing on her face disappeared. Light streamed through a roof of light green leaves, the sky a creamy blue above. The sun seemed to be near the horizon, and through the leaves Laila watched the moon, thrice the size of the sun, slowly circling around itself. Red and gold, red and gold, the moon inhabited by the old gods, gods who left this world millennia ago, leaving the trees and the mountains for themselves, only leaving behind a spark of life.

 

The Elven Folk was the silver lining in a world of darkness, a spark lighting up the skies, stars, in physical form. Beings of flaws and imperfection, but capable of caring. Born to live forever.

 

Then there was the Elven Folk’s counterpart. Demons were able to travel the in-between-world and call upon shadows and magic. It was the Humans who ended the war between Elves and Demons. The Troia family had since reigned in peace, for hundreds of years, in the kingdom of Coralia, between the western sea and the immortal forest where the Elves reigned. The Demons retreated to the mountains in the north.

 

The Moriyama family rattled that peace, bringing foreign armies to destroy. It was only a matter of time until the Ravens decided the Forest Court was a threat no longer tolerated. The little Laila knew of the Mountains was that Riko hadn’t been able to find it. The little Laila knew of Demons told her that meeting a Demon in the Forest was practically impossible, and yet they had met one – and Laila had passed out.

 

 _Oh, moon,_ Laila thought.

 

But then the warm, wet something was on her face again, tickling her.

 

“Ew,” she groaned, turning her head away, shutting her eyes.

 

“Oh, you’re awake!” An obnoxiously loud voice rang out.

 

When she grumbled and opened her eyes, squinting in the light, she thought that the Demon’s smile might as well be brighter than the sun. Her eyes crinkled and glowed. “What is that on my face?” Laila asked, still dizzy.

 

“My friend,” Alvarez answered joyfully cryptic. “I was wondering when he’d come around. He always likes to visit when I’m lost in the forest.”

 

That was the moment when Laila’s senses finally returned to normal, soft breathing filled the air and a warm breath blew on her face. Looking away from Alvarez, Laila came face to face with the tallest moose she’d ever seen. He had thick, dark fur and a black nose, with antlers surrounding him like a crown.

 

Alvarez patted his nose and nuzzled her face into his neck, her shadows disappearing for a moment and leaving her with only a thin, back cape. “How have you been, big guy?”

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/164131576@N06/30466058298/in/photostream/)

The moose snorted and shook his head a bit, Alvarez giggling and ducking to avoid being stabbed to death by antlers.

 

“Jeremy told me your name when you were unconscious, so let me introduce you to my friend,” Alvarez said and made a vague gesture between Laila and the moose. The moose snorted. “This is Laila, she’s an Elv, but she’s an okay person. I think.”

 

“Thank you, Alvarez,” Laila rolled her eyes. Then, to the moose: “Nice to meet you.”

 

The moose licked her face again before turning to the side and snuffling Jeremy – who was leaning on the tree next to her – to eat his hair.

 

“Uh, hello, again,” Jeremy said and made a face when the moose dedicatedly licked his cheek.

 

Alvarez laughed at him. “He really seems to like you.”

 

“What happened?” Laila asked, noticing the clean change of clothes Jeremy was wearing and her twin swords cleaned next to her backpack.

 

“You passed out, but luckily I know some things about putting bandages on cuts,” Alvarez said, seeming fairly pleased with herself. “Besides, the cut wasn’t that deep. Your elbow is a different story, though.”

 

Laila tried to bend her arm but winced.

 

“I think you overstretched a sinew or something, Laila,” Alvarez gently warned. “You gotta be careful with moving it.”

 

Laila smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

 

She got to her feet, straightening her blood sprinkled clothes. Her head felt a bit cloudy, but she knew it was going to fade. Slowly she tried moving her arm again, but quickly gave up when she felt pain. She tried opening and closing her fingers on her left hand, but decided to leave that for another day. Instead, she slowly put her swords back in their sheaths on her back.

 

Making herself comfortable on a spot of grass, she looked around. They were in a small clearing, and she could still hear the river a few lines of trees away. She glimpsed three limp bodies lying on the riverbank, dressed in black cloth.

 

“Have you eaten?” Laila asked, at last, her own stomach grumbling at the thought of food. She started searching through her backpack for fruit and edible roots from the Forest Court.

 

“Um,” Jeremy said, looking a bit green in his face. His eyes went in the direction of the river.

 

“I’m not really hungry, I think.”

 

“Yeah, you are,” Laila said, throwing an apple at him and holding another out for the moose to eat. The moose carefully took the apple from her hand at started chewing. “Eat, Jers, or you will pass out from hunger before we have left the forest, and how are we gonna reach Evermore then?”

 

Jeremy’s eyes widened. Oh, Laila realized a second too late.

 

“So you’re going to Evermore?” Alvarez asked, raising her brows.

 

Laila threw a pear at Alvarez, who caught it effortlessly and had the audacity to smirk.

 

“Yeah, actually,” Jeremy said. “We have reason to believe that one of our friends is being held captive there, and we’re going to free him.”

 

Alvarez nodded. She didn’t ask how they were gonna break into the Moriyama castle when they were only two wanderers in a forest. She didn’t comment on Jeremy’s hesitation to kill, and suddenly Laila liked her a lot more. Laila handed them both some dried berries to snack on.

 

“Do you mind if I join you on your quest?” Alvarez asked after she’d swallowed her food.

 

“Why?” Laila furrowed her brows.

 

Alvarez shrugged. “You’ll die without me?”

 

Laila watched the moose nuzzle the Demon’s face.

 

“And… I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Alvarez looked away.

 

Jeremy nodded at Laila. “Why not?”

 

“Sure,” Laila said. “But we kinda don’t have a plan.”

 

“If you had a plan, it would be dumb anyways,” Alvarez smirked.

 

“Let’s go,” Jeremy said, ignoring Alvarez. “We rested, and I want to bring some distance between us and this river before we sleep for the night.”

 

“You shouldn’t walk,” Laila said. “Your foot is injured.”

 

The moose grumbled something in moose and lay down in front of Jeremy. “Oh,” Jeremy mouthed in awe, before carefully climbing onto the moose’s back. “Thank you, big bro,” he said.

 

Alvarez handed Jeremy his and Laila’s bags, and affectionately pet the moose’s neck. Laila was surprised to think a smile suited Alvarez a lot more than a stormy expression.

 

Shaking her head, she got to her feet, blinking against the dizziness. She knew she probably shouldn’t have trusted Alvarez this easily, but a fight against Ravens did magic in bonding. Besides, Alvarez could have just left them after the danger passed – Laila unconscious and Jeremy bleeding.

 

Smiling reassuringly at Jeremy, who was looking at her worriedly, downstream. “Coralia is that way.”

 

The moose snorted softly.

 

“Come on,” Alvarez said, looking her up and down with a raised eyebrow, “do you want me to help you get on?”

 

It took Laila a second to piece together what she meant. Then it was suddenly difficult not to blush. “Right,” she said absentmindedly and carefully climbed on the moose behind Jeremy, careful not to accidentally kick the moose’s stomach or push Jeremy off.

 

Alvarez climbed on behind her, and Laila tensed when she tangled her arms around her waist. When the moose stood up, Laila quickly wrapped her arms around Jeremy and she forgave Alvarez for being touchy, as she was suddenly very high in the air and even though she had lived longer than most Humans she had never been on the back of a moose, and wow. Her stomach felt like it was tangling itself apart and together, and her palms were suddenly sweaty.

 

The moose was soft and warm under her, all fur and bones and muscles, and Jeremy in front of her was familiar, the demon behind her not so much but Laila was surprised that she didn’t mind the physical closeness.

 

The moose started walking slowly at first, letting the trio get used to his movements and find some balance, before he slowly sped up until he was at a soft gallop, rushing through the trees. Sometimes low branches would get stuck on his antlers, but he’d always shake it off.

 

The path the moose followed was a path used by local deer and rabbits, winding itself up a small hill, then down on the other side. Laila lost track of time.

 

The stars appeared, and the sounds of the night slowly sounded through the trees. Underneath the call of owls and insects lay the steady rhythm of the hooves against the ground and Jeremy’s soft breathing. Laila was relieved but also worried. If they would have been overpowered by Ravens inside the Forest, how would they even manage to infiltrate Evermore, the enemy’s castle and safest place?

 

At around midnight, the moose stopped at the foot of a small rise in the earth where the forest was lighter but still thick enough to provide cover. They couldn’t see it but heard a big river near, the ground to their feet moist as they slid off the moose’s back. Soft grass greeted her tired feet, legs weirdly jiggle and sore from the pressure points of her pants.

 

She helped Jeremy land on his non-injured leg and began looking for a relatively soft, dry patch of grass. She was tired, and she didn’t want to think about what they would see outside of the immortal forest. The snout of the moose tickled her neck and she turned around to pet it softly.

 

“He’ll leave now,” Alvarez said, somewhat sadly. “He won’t be able to cross the river.” She walked up to the moose and buried her face in his neck, whispering words Laila didn’t understand.

 

The moose turned to thoroughly lick Jeremy’s face one last time before vanishing back to where they came from.

 

“How come you befriended a moose?” Jeremy finally broke the silence, looking at Alvarez.

 

“How come an Elven Warrior and a Human travel together?” Alvarez asked back, raising a brow.

 

Jeremy sighed. “I’m gonna go ahead a bit and also get some water,” He announced, nodding in the direction of the river. “In the meantime, please don’t kill each other.”

 

“Why would we do that?” Laila asked, but Jeremy was already past the trees. In truth, she had a pretty good idea what he meant. Still, she kinda liked Alvarez.

 

“So,” Alvarez began in a teasing voice, “why would an Elven Warrior like you spend her time with a Human?”

 

“Why would a Demon be wandering the immortal forest?” Laila retorted. When Alvarez didn’t answer, Laila spotted a soft looking spot in the grass and sat down, stretching her legs and watching Alvarez from the corner of her eyes. Her shadows were resurfacing in the dark, and even her dark skin seemed to move in time with them. Dark swirls in the night. Laila looked away. Her boots were dirty from the walk next to the river.

 

It was a quiet night. The birds had stopped singing a long time ago. The wind rustled in the young leaves and Laila listened to the chirping of insects and frogs. The air was cool, spring night cool. Alvarez was silent, and when Laila looked up Alvarez was polishing a knife. What was her deal with knives?

 

“Shut up,” Alvarez said, stopping her movement.

 

“I wasn’t going to say any–” but upon a help up hand Laila shut up.

 

It was completely silent. Just the sounds of water seemed unnaturally loud.

 

“It’s too silent,” Alvarez got to her feet, taking Jeremy’s bag that was still lying in the grass, abandoned.

 

Then Laila smelled it. A soft breeze dragged a smell through the trees, cold on her skin. Leather and... sweat. Human sweat, of more than one person. Where was Jeremy?

 

Alvarez looked like she was going to say something stupid, but Laila rose to her feet and sprinted towards the water, towards Jeremy.

 

The river splattered on the riverbanks peacefully, but no Jeremy was in sight. The wind turned and now Laila smelled nothing but dirt and forest, maybe algae and fish from the river. Her stomach knotted, except that this time it felt like it was digesting itself. Dragging air into her lungs, she felt like something was pressing down on her chest, and she wanted to vomit.

_No, no, no, this isn’t happening._

 

Alvarez appeared in the trees behind her, but Laila didn’t need to look. Alvarez’s loud breathing and cracking branches between her feet gave away that she was shaken, out of breath. “What...” she began, but Laila shushed her.

 

Where had Jeremy wanted to go? Water and... just water. What else was around here? The crossing. And… she remembered there being a Human road, a trading route. Behind that and maybe a few trees later would only be dead fields and the threat of Moriyama border patrols, of Ravens. What scent had been in the air? Leather and sweat. _Shit_.

 

And Laila was running again. She skipped through the river, not bothering to find a ford, or even just shallower part, the ice-cold water reaching up to her hip. She didn’t feel it.

 

_This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening._

 

A mantra in her head, making her forget the pain in the back of her head and that her left arm was actually useless, as she still couldn’t bend the elbow or move her fingers. Voices filtered through the splashing water.

 

“Laila! Heck, wait!” Alvarez called, but Laila could only think of Jeremy.

 

She barely felt the pain in her arm when she pulled herself out of the water, immediately running towards the voices, talking words Laila couldn’t understand, didn’t want to understand. Her clothes were heavy from the water, making it difficult to move, and she shivered, though she couldn’t tell whether it was from cold or from fear.

 

The trees cleared and Laila stood surrounded. Six, seven, thirteen Ravens around her, two of them restraining Jeremy, whose hands were already bound, but who struggled once more when he saw Laila. She drew one of her swords with her good arm, grip loose as her gaze met the eyes of the Humans in the Raven uniforms.

 

With loud footsteps and curses that Laila had never heard before, Alvarez crashed out of the tree line, daggers drawn, clothes just as wet as Laila’s. “Laila, you idiot,” she panted and cursed. “Jeremy, glad you’re alive, bro,” she continued, smiling like they weren’t being aimed at by five arrows.

 

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy said, sounding just as devastated as he looked. “They were going to ignore me but then I said they smell like bird shit.” One of the Ravens kicked his legs and he fell to his knees.

 

“Surrender,” the Raven said in a voice icier than the river they had just crossed. “And you will have a trial.”

 

Alvarez had the nerve to laugh. It was joyless. “I guess we will because you asked so nicely, an unfair trial is all I ever wanted ever.”

 

“We will _not,”_ Laila stressed, because surrendering wasn’t an option, was never an option when it came to the Ravens, the Ravens who had laid waste to a prosperous land.

 

But Alvarez dropped her daggers and elbowed Laila in the ribs, hard.

 

Laila carefully laid her sword in the grass to her feet, shivering again. Immediately she felt rough hands on her arms, yanking them behind her back and tying her wrists together, her left elbow throbbing in pain. Her second blade was taken from her back, and someone pulled her knives out of her boots and underarm sheaths. Dimly, she noted that the same was happening to Alvarez, who seemed to be carrying a lot more knives and daggers than a normal person would.

 

“What is your obsession with daggers anyway?” Laila asked Alvarez through her hazy mind. Trying to focus on a black strand of hair next to Alvarez’s ear.

 

Alvarez grinned. “They’re KNIVES. When I marry, I can be the knife wife.”

 

“That really does not make sense,” Laila answered, her words drawn out. “Would you kill your beloved using so many knives?”

 

Alvarez’s grin turned somewhat flirty and when her eyes went from Laila’s face to her toes and back Alvarez raised her eyebrows. “No, it’s like a phrase? I would not use a knife on my beloved. My fingers, though...” Despite the situation, heat rose to Laila’s cheeks, and she couldn’t even be angry. She had walked right in on that. “You’d be a great sword girlfriend,” Alvarez continued, clearly flirting. “I bet you know how to use –“

 

She was silenced by one of the Ravens punching her on the mouth, followed by words and curses Laila tried her best to block out. When Alvarez met her eyes a moment later, she smiled through bloody lips.

 

“Must you be this way,” Jeremy whispered from where he was dumped next to them in the middle of the clearing.

 

Only then did Laila gain some feeling back to her body, noticing that her feet were bound and she was lying on her side, facing Alvarez.

 

“You’re stupid,” Alvarez said, and her eyes were soft. “Running through a cold river like that? Dumb as fuck.”

 

Laila was about to reply that Alvarez was dumb for running after her like that, but Jeremy’s small sound of exclamation made her turn all her attention on him.

 

“What…” Jeremy whispered.

 

Laila ended up craning her neck, just to see that Jeremy was looking forward. The sun was rising above empty, ashen fields, lonely trees scattered between them.

 

“It’s Coralia,” Laila said, wriggling until she felt Jeremy’s legs next to her own. Casual touch, comfort and reminder that it was okay to need comfort.

 

The Sun Prince went very still.

 

It had been five years since he last stepped foot into Coralia. It had been green and colourful, flowers blooming beside the roads and in between the fields. It had been a rich country, full of life and love, ruled by the Troia family. Nothing remained now. A quarter of the population had been wiped out by the Moriyama family, and because of the destroyed fields during the swift invasion, many starved to death in that first winter. Even now, the majority of the fields were still bare.

 

Along with his closest family and his home, Jeremy had lost his people. The forest court had taken him in but had never become a home like the coast had been. Like Humans had been.

 

 

Laila slumped, suddenly too tired to be able to think. Her fear had ebbed to a small discomfort. For now, it was enough that Jeremy was next to her, breathing, and that the weird Demon they’d met was near enough to hear her breathing, feel her warmth.

 


	4. May you find peace

 

She woke up on hard soil, the smell of mould and other things she didn’t want to think about so strong she felt like she could have puked if she had eaten anything in the past hours of drifting in and out of consciousness. Her arms were still bound behind her back and the pain in her elbow had spread up to her shoulder but resided to nothing but a throbbing ache. Something tapped her good arm, something like a hand. Though it might be an elbow.

 

 _Jeremy,_ Laila thought and pried open her eyes, staring Alvarez right in the face. Relief flooded her. If she was okay Jeremy would be okay, too. She turned her head and smiled when she saw him, with dirt on his face and his clothes as he sat leaned up against the brick wall of their prison. The thing poking her was his knee.

 

“I’m glad you’re alive,” he said dryly.

 

“Likewise,” Alvarez chimed in. “You’ve been out for a while.”

 

Dimly, Laila remembered cutting the rope on her wrists on a sharp rock and attempting an escape, and the blurred face of a Raven soldier who hit her in the head when she failed to sneakily free her friends. “Thank you,” Laila replied in absence of a better reply.

 

“We don’t have a _good_ plan yet,” Jeremy informed her, “but I’m working on it.”

 

“You’re thinking of ways of how to die the most horrible death,” Alvarez mocked.

 

“The guards might not be getting drunk yet but they’re generally assholes,” Jeremy continued as if he hadn’t heard Alvarez, “so if we taunt them and they come in to like, I don’t know, beat us up –”

 

“Great plan, Jeremy,” Alvarez scoffed.

 

“...and if we can like, overwhelm them and take their weapons without being fatally injured we can fight our way out.”

 

“Or die.”

 

“Or die, yes, Alvarez raises a good point even if she’s annoying.” Jeremy looked deadpan at Laila as he said it.

 

Her brain felt all foggy and Laila concentrated on blinking the spots out of her sight and focus Jeremy, on the small cut on his jaw. “Do we have water?” She asked, noticing her raw throat and dry lips. Or was it just dried blood? Did the Raven hit her mouth or was it from when she fell?

 

“We don’t,” Alvarez said. “Our hands are tied and they’re going to publicly execute us tomorrow, I think Jeremy failed to mention that part.”

 

Ignoring Jeremy’s glare, Laila turned her head to look at Alvarez.

 

Her skin was a deep brown, soft and spotless under the mud on her cheekbone and her hair black and although dusty, knotted and muddy in places, sleek and shining in the dim light. Her eyes were beautifully formed, the white a stark contrast to the utter blackness of her irises and pupils. She held herself upright and still, moved with the grace of an immortal.

 

And then there were the shadows, her cape that in the sunlight looked normal but had a life on its own, making her trip on the way to the forest to land in a stream. Coincidence or fate?

 

She raised an eyebrow, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

Okay, Laila had to admit that she found her undeniably attractive, but there were other important things to worry about. “You’re a Demon,” she stated, suddenly unsure of herself. Alvarez’ presence was that of darkness and a small bit like death, but it was definitely immortal and not of Elven origin.

 

“I’m actually only half Demon,” Alvarez said. “It’s kinda hot when you call me ‘Demon,’ to be honest, but I’m not sure if I’d like to call you ‘Elv’ as it sounds kinda weird, don’t you think?”

 

Laila groaned. “Not the point. Fact is, I’m a Warrior, so I was never expected to learn magic stuff, but you’re a Demon so…”

 

“You think she can travel the in-between-world?” Jeremy piped in.

 

Alvarez suddenly didn’t look so sure anymore. “I can what? Isn’t that like, I don’t know, a myth?”

 

Laila groaned. “We are so going to die.”

 

“Wait wait wait,” Alvarez said. “What do you mean? Magic? Shadows? Dissolving? That’s not just a story?”

 

Was it possible that Alvarez simply didn’t know? “Okay,” Laila said. “I do not know much, obviously, but a long time ago I had a friend who was a Demon. She told me about how her shadows protected her as well as made it possible to travel far distances in a matter of seconds. Take your coat, for example, it’s there to protect you from the cold but it’s not here now, is it? Because you don’t need it now.”

 

Slowly, understanding spread on Alvarez’s beautiful face. “Oh, _these_ shadows? They’re friends. They’re just kinda always with me.” Alvarez smiled. “It’s not like I can tell them to come or vanish.”

 

“That’s actually cute,” said Jeremy. “But if the shadows aren’t actually _her,_ why would she be able to dissolve to shadows?” The question was aimed at Laila.

 

“I… my friend. She… she explained it so it made sense. _”_ Laila swallowed, her voice rough, throat dry. “I would really like some water.”

 

“That is literally the coolest thing ever,” Alvarez said. “Not that you need water, that sucks, but the walking through walls thing.” She smiled widely and dimples appeared on her cheeks.

 

“Moon, why are you so cute?” Laila whispered into the ground her face was still lying on.

 

“I heard that,” Jeremy said. “You’re not very subtle.”

 

“What?” Alvarez asked. “I’m cute? Thank you.”

 

“Anyway,” Laila said, trying to gather her thoughts and sitting up. “We need to get out of here.” She rolled her shoulders and tested out the ropes on her hands. There was enough space between her wrists for her to slip through her bound arms and hold her hands in front of her.

 

“Not to be that person but that was hot, also,” Alvarez noted.

 

 _“Ughhhhhh,”_ Jeremy said.

 

Laila managed a smile but she was sure it turned out to be more of a grimace. She quickly started to bite at the knot, relieved that it was only rope and not a metal chain. After a few failed attempts and accidentally making the bands tighter, she was finally able to shake them off. She immediately moved on to Jeremy’s wrists. She untied Alvarez’s hands before untying the rope binding her ankles together. Out of breath, she slowly stood up.

 

“That’s was nice,” Jeremy said. “Maybe we won’t die.”

 

“Well, actually we are at point one again, Jers,” Laila sighed. “Our only advantage is that the guards don’t know we are untied.”

 

“Unfortunately,” Alvarez said, “they do now.”

 

Laila turned to the door in time to see a guard snarl something and, for whatever dumb reason, he opened the door and stepped into the cell. The man had his sword halfway drawn when Alvarez’s elbow hit him in the throat and he went down with a _thump._

 

“That was awesome,” Jeremy said.

 

Laila gently took the cheap, unbalanced sword out of his limp fingers. “Let’s go.”

 

“Wait,” Alvarez called, “if we die, I want to have done this at least once.” And for a brief moment Laila felt hands on her face and lips on her lips, and then she blinked and Alvarez was already stepping through the doors, shadows flaring.

 

“Congrats, I guess,” Jeremy informed her. Laila touched her lower lip with a finger and followed Jeremy out of their cell.

 

Unfortunately for them, the guard had signalled for backup before opening the cell, and when Laila finally stepped out of the cell and turned left she stood face to face with a tall guard, her long hair bound back and a fancy Raven crest on her chest. The sword in her hands was shiny and it looked more balanced than the piece of metal currently in Laila’s hand.

 

Focusing on the weight of the blade in her hand, she blocked the first swing the guard took at her and swung back, aiming at the guard’s knees. The guard was quick on her feet and even quicker in her perception. The next blows were all aimed at Laila’s left side, where she kept her injured arm as close as possible.

 

Metal clinking to the floor and cursing sounded from behind her so she guessed Alvarez and Jeremy were otherwise occupied. After blocking what felt like the tenth blow to her side that made her arm shaking from exhaustion, she began to make out a pattern.

 

The Raven was using her tall figure to her advantage, moving her long arms fast enough to seriously bother Laila. She was also always swinging the blade either from the side or from above, which made it easy to either block or just move out of the way. But her core was left unprotected.

 

So when the guard swung her arm to bring her fancy blade down on Laila’s head, instead of stepping aside, Laila stepped towards her. The Raven was fast, but Laila was faster. With a pirouette, she danced into the guard’s arms, her stolen sword ripping open the Raven’s throat.

 

The guard’s eyes widened at Laila’s sudden proximity and her sword clattered to the ground with her body quick to follow.

 

When Laila turned around she found two bodies to the feet of her friends.

 

“I didn’t know someone could look this good with this much blood on them,” Alvarez said while looking Laila up and down. Her clothes were sprinkled with blood.

 

“Likewise,” Laila said, watching as Alvarez wiped a drop of blood from her cheek.

 

 _“Ughhhhhh,”_ Jeremy said. “Let’s find our stuff.”

 

“Good idea. And I want water and food,” Laila agreed. She threw the cheap, bloody blade in her hand to the ground and picked up the much nicer and sleeker one from the woman she just killed.

 

“Why don’t we try over there?” Alvarez suggested, pointing down the hall.

 

The holding cells they passed were empty, although some reeked of death. The torchlight from the walls was dim at best, but Laila didn’t even notice until she shoved open a door and walked into a room where the chairs around a table on the side of the room looked like they were hastily abandoned.

 

“This is sketchy,” Laila murmured, but she spotted their backpacks and weapons thrown into a corner and she quickly strapped her swords to her back before she just crammed all of her knives into her backpack and swung it onto the shoulder that didn’t hurt.

 

When she was done Jeremy and Alvarez were waiting for her, standing guard at the two doors leading into the room. Laila’s head spun. Maybe being an Elven Warrior wasn’t that useful when you got hit on the head too hard and then left starving. Speaking of food…

 

“Do you think any of this is edible?” She asked, eyeing a leftover piece of bread (old, really old) and half an apple (brown) on the table between cups (empty or filled with brown stuff, probably alcohol, probably poisonous if the Ravens liked it).

 

“Something is off,” Alvarez murmured, completely ignoring Laila (and the food).

 

“I agree,” Jeremy said. “I’d say this is a trap to lure us out, giving us false hope and shit but even I don’t think they’d leave four guards for us to kill, you feel me?”

 

“Shhh,” Alvarez suddenly said.

 

Laila held her breath.

 

A distant scream. Metal clanging on metal.

 

“Oh shit,” Alvarez said. “Someone is attacking?”

 

Suddenly the roof went up in flames. Unlike the walls and the floor, it wasn’t made out of stone, but entirely out of straw, and the fire was about to fall on their heads.

 

 _“Back to the cells!”_ Alvarez shouted and dashed towards the door, grabbing Laila’s arm and pushing Jeremy down in front of her.

 

The cool stone around her felt nice on her skin, and when Laila dared glance back she only saw a pulsing firewall. Alvarez smashed the heavy door shut and they ran back, past the guards they killed. The roof above them was wooden, but the fire wasn’t spreading fast. _Or not_ that _fast,_ Laila thought, and immediately coughed.

 

They rounded a corner and were greeted by more fire, this time Laila had absolutely no idea where it could possibly come from.

 

Alvarez cursed. “There’s a hidden door on the other side of this room,” she explained frantically, “it leads to the sewers, where we can put some distance between us and here.”

 

“Um,” Jeremy coughed, “it’s cool that you know the way out but like, how do you know that and why didn’t we go there _first?”_

 

“This is not the first time I’m breaking out of this shitty prison,” Alvarez coughed back. “And once they’d know we’re in the sewers they’d smoke us out, so it’s not safe if you want to escape!”

 

“Well we’re being smoked out right now, and I didn’t think we were ever safe being tied up in a shitty prison cell!” Jeremy’s eyes were red from the smoke and he had tears streaming down his face and his voice sounded so gravely he might have eaten stones.

 

“Who cares!” Laila tried to shout but only some croaking managed to leave her mouth. “We gotta go!”

 

They stumbled past a burning table and through more smoke than Laila ever wanted to see in her entire immortal life, and then Alvarez pointed at a wall where currently a tapestry was burning all avantgarde-ly before kicking the wall carefully. She looked surprised when that was all it took to open the door, where a light-swallowing blackness hovered.

 

Mouldy, wet air greeted them as they started their descent down a moist ladder. Jeremy, who’d gone first, nearly slipped and fell down. Alvarez somehow shut the door behind them, and the roaring of the flames and creaking of the burning walls was replaced by silence.

 

Laila reached the bottom and cringed at the thought of what was down here. She coughed the smoke out of her lungs and wiped tears out of her eyes. “Some water would be so amazing right now,” she said, careful not to breathe. “And I don’t mean sewer water.”

 

Jeremy chuckled. “I’m glad that we’re okay.”

 

“For now,” Alvarez said cryptically. “I can’t see a fucking thing, and besides the fact that there’s no smoke here – which is really nice, don’t get me wrong – it smells like twenty toilets combined.”

 

Laila had to agree. It did smell like twenty toilets. She clamped a hand over her nose to filter at least _some_ of the odours hanging in the air. She did _not_ want to think about the sloshing sounds her boots made when she took a step ahead in the darkness.

 

She clasped her hands together, forming a bowl. She calmed herself, cringing when she felt that she was actually ankle deep in shit, and her elbow really hurt, but then she blocked it out. She whispered a word in the old language of the gods and felt warmth in her hands before opening her eyes.

 

“Whoa!” Jeremy exclaimed. “That is so cool! Since when can you do that?”

 

In her hands floated a tiny ball of soft white light, bright enough to light up the sewer around them but not too bright to hurt their eyes. Looking around, Laila decided that maybe it would have been better to be blind, as the sight of the trash and, well, the inside of twenty toilets on the wet ground really wasn’t appealing. The walls didn’t look clean either, and she found that she didn’t want to know what the dark rusty splatters were.

 

“Like I said. I knew a Demon once. But… Elves aren’t very accepting of magic that is not our  – their – own. I never had reason to tell anybody.” Laila had wanted to teach Jeremy the small spell, and she, of course, knew that in the Human world no such stigmas existed. But she had thought him too young, and she had had other worries during Jeremy’s years in the Forest Court. “I am sorry I never showed you. It all happened before you were born.”

 

“I mean… I guess I understand,” Jeremy said. “Elves are actually pretty full of themselves.”

 

That made Laila chuckle. “I know we are a bit... much sometimes.”

 

“Uh, no,” Jeremy laughed. “You just swore an oath to protect me for all my life because you saw me smile when I was a baby.”

 

On second thought, that probably wasn’t very common for Humans. Or Demons. “Yes,” Laila decided to say.

 

Alvarez had been silently following their conversation. “I already noticed you’re kinda dramatic, glad to know it’s not just me,” she said. “But I’m gonna die if we stay here.”

 

“So where to?”

 

Alvarez pointed into the darkness, and Laila went ahead, trying to avoid stepping into deeper puddles and at the same time trying not to think about everything too much. Water splashed as three pairs of shoes waded through it, and at some crossings, Laila felt the sludge almost reach her knees.

 

Finally, Alvarez whispered to stop. Laila’s light was still shining in her hands, and when she held it towards the wall she saw a ladder going up, up and up into darkness.

 

Alvarez began to climb up the slippery steps and Laila motioned for Jeremy to follow her.

 

Laila waited until Alvarez and Jeremy had disappeared above before she let her light grow small and disappear, whispering thanks. Listening into the darkness of the sewers, she thought that this would be what alone felt like, except that the air was humid and oh well, Laila really wanted to get out. Not even rats were comfortable down here.

 

The ladder was, in fact, slippery, the metal either rusty or too soft, like something was growing on it. After ten steps Laila’s hands were freezing, and then from somewhere above she heard metal screeching against metal.

 

“We’re out,” Alvarez whispered.

 

The darkness suddenly felt less thick, and a breeze hit Laila that made her sigh in contentment. When she finally pulled herself out, dry, dusty air felt like the best air she had ever had the luxury of breathing. She dropped down next to Jeremy and watched Alvarez pushing a metal plate back across the hole in the ground.

 

“Where are we?”

 

“Home,” Alvarez said gravely.

 

A sinking feeling settled in Laila’s gut as she heard the defeat and anger in Alvarez’s voice. In the darkness, she could only make out a dark silhouette where Alvarez’s face would be, and light reflected in her eyes. Laila turned away to look around, but couldn’t see more than silhouettes of furniture. It felt like an unused cellar.

 

“At least there’s food if you guys still wanna eat?” Alvarez’s voice turned suddenly cheerful.

 

“Of course,” Laila and Jeremy answered.

 

They climbed up a flight of narrow stairs, ending up in the main room of an empty cafe, small round tables scattered artfully over the room, complete with colourfully arranged flowers and tablecloths. On one side was a bar made of painted wood and behind it hung skilfully made paintings of coasts, waves and palm trees. On the other side were big windows painted with teacups the same colour as the flower arrangements. The windows showed a dark street outside.

 

The door of the staircase clicked closed behind them.

 

“Who’s there?” A suspicious voice called out, and from behind the bar, a Human stepped into the room. A small lamp glowed in her hands, illuminating her gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses. Her skin was light brown and worn from age.

 

“I’m – I’m back,” Alvarez said, her shoulders dropping.

 

“Oh my – Sara – it’s really you!” A smile was on the old woman’s face, making her eyes crinkle and glow, the smile too big for her face. She was in front of Alvarez – Sara – in an instant, hugging her tight. Alvarez didn’t return the embrace.

 

“I... I’m with friends,” Alvarez said silently when the woman let go of her. “And, uh, I guess you should know that if the Ravens found us we’d be killed, probably. We might have picked a fight.”

 

Laila felt Jeremy shift on his feet. Technically, he did start the fight with the Ravens. But on the other hand, he was an eighteen-year-old Human whose family had been brutally murdered by the Ravens. And Laila agreed that the Moriyama guards did smell like bird shit. They smelled worse than bird shit.

 

The old woman looked a bit wary. “You were in the prison?”

 

Alvarez nodded.

 

“Then I’m glad you made it out of there alive. Those young people really didn’t hold back with the burning arrows, I hear.”

 

Alvarez looked like she wanted to ask a few questions, but the woman shooed them towards the door she had come from, muttering about getting cleaned up. They went through one dimly lit corridor and then another until they stepped into a small bathroom, the shelves lined with soap and towels, and a small tub in a corner.

 

The elder woman looked the three up and down with furrowed brows. “I’ll bring you pants, and shoes, just try to wash the worst off. I’ll prepare water for proper baths.” With that, she disappeared.

 

“Well, uh,” Alvarez said into the remaining silence. “That’s my adoptive mother, Steph.” She started to slowly peel out of her boots, and after Jeremy lightly elbowed Laila, she followed. Deciding to not ask questions, they threw their shoes and pants on a pile before using the cold water in the tub to rinse their skin free of whatever fluids still stuck around. At least the soap smelled nice.

 

Alvarez’s adoptive mother came back shortly, having found some wide pants and soft slippers. Alvarez briefly and awkwardly introduced Laila and Jeremy as her friends, not calling their names. Steph just accepted that and led them back through the corridor they came from and through another wooden door, hanging tilted in its angles and croaking lightly.

 

The first thing Laila noticed was the fire burning in the middle of a small backyard. The fire burned calmly and different from the raging fire they’d escaped from.

 

The homey backyard was packed with a tree in a corner and potted plants everywhere else, and benches stood in a loose circle around the fire. People in various amounts of dark amour stood in small groups, the Raven symbols scratched off violently. One of them, clad in a long coat that reached the dry soil to their feet, noticed them first.

 

With long steps, the Human walked around a small potted flower, and Laila could make out the smile on his face shortly before he greeted Alvarez. “Sara? Sara!”

 

“Michael. It’s me.” Alvarez winced a bit but straightened her shoulders.

 

Michael hugged Alvarez and petted her head. “Big sister,” he said, “we’ve missed you here. How’s the world been treating you?”

 

“I made friends,” Alvarez replied deadpan. “Do you have water? Food?”

 

Laila kinda loved her for saying that.

 

“It’s always food with you, isn’t it?” Michael chuckled and winked. “Sit down first and tell us what made you come back.”

 

“Well, do you know what happened to the Raven base and the prison?” Alvarez stepped around Michael and motioned for Laila and Jeremy to follow her as she sat down on a bench, the wood old but well cared for.

 

“Oh no, you weren’t in there, right?” Michael joined them, sitting on the bench next to them and furrowing his brows worriedly. “Our sources said the holding cells were empty this morning, so we – and with _we_ I mean us as well as the Foxes,” he added with a glance at Laila and Jeremy, “started the rebellion, or so I hope.” He smiled a loopy smile, but his eyes remained sad.

 

Something twisted in Laila’s stomach. She felt goosebumps on her arms.

 

Instinctively she reached out and found Jeremy’s hand. His palms were sweating. She didn’t dare look at him but she knew his face was drained of colour. Did the rebels have a chance or were they about to die?

 

Was this a dream or a nightmare?

 

At that moment, Steph came with a tray of food and water, scolding them to not discuss these things when ‘Sara’ had just returned. She smiled at Laila and ruffled Jeremy’s hair.

 

Laila was painfully reminded of her dry throat when she tried to thank the woman for the water, so she settled on the biggest smile she could muster and accepted a bowl filled with pasta and tomato sauce. The ceramic was hot in her hands but Laila welcomed it. Whatever was going on in this city – she wouldn’t dare hope.

 

While Jeremy and Laila dedicated their whole attention to their delicious pasta, careful to eat slowly and to sip water in between bites, savouring the taste, Alvarez briefly told the story of how they had met in the forest when she was being chased by Ravens, and how a while later they had encountered a flock. A flock of Ravens – but while Laila had to think about the connection, Michael and the few others who had come to listen seemed to have no problem to understand.  Alvarez left out the part where Jeremy had said the Ravens smelled like bird shit but described their escape from the prison in great detail.

 

“Well, I’m glad you made it out alive,” Michael said when Alvarez was finished. “As you might have guessed, everybody who attempted to leave through a door on ground level has been immediately targeted by our archers. Or, specifically, Fox archers.” He smiled. “It’s been too long since the Ravens came here. I hope now more and more will take the chance...”

 

“Michael,” a girl interrupted him. “Let’s talk about this tomorrow, alright? We needn’t worry Sara and her friends.” She smiled in Jeremy and Laila’s general direction. “I’m Katie, by the way, Sara’s sister.”

 

“Stepsister,” Alvarez disagreed. If she were a cat, her fur would be ruffled. “We’re all only stepsiblings.”

 

“Sara –“

 

“My name is Alvarez,” she said.

 

Katie nodded but didn’t seem to agree.

 

“Who are the Foxes?” Jeremy asked, his voice hoarse.

 

“That would be me,” a voice sounded from behind them. A woman came into view, young, maybe in her mid-twenties. She had dark brown skin and short, black locks – and a smile too bright for a night after death. “I’m Danielle Wilds. I’m kind of a leader with the rebels. Though I do like the term ‘captain’ a lot more, to be honest.”

 

“Uh,” Jeremy said cleverly.

 

“We fight for Queen Yereya of Troia. Her family might be dead but her people are not.” Dan looked at both Jeremy and then Laila, eyes unforgiving.

 

Laila only gripped Jeremy’s hand tighter.

 

“Dan,” Alvarez sighed. “We’ve been basically kidnapped by Ravens, for fuck’s sake.”

 

Dan smiled. “If you wanna kill Riko, we have a plan. Just saying.” She looked into the sky, cryptically. “Gotta go now. Glad you’re alive, Alvarez.”

 

With that, the so-called captain of the rebels disappeared, leaving Laila reminded of the pressing matters at hand, and Jeremy stoic like a statue. Laila gripped her cup so hard her knuckles turned white and forced herself to drink up. She’d need the strength.

 

Distinctly, Laila felt Alvarez lean her back into her shoulder while she was talking in soft voices with her stepsiblings – or whoever those people were. Jeremy held tight to her hand, and she closed her eyes, drifting off. The fire was warm and she had just eaten the best pasta of her long life. They had escaped, and even though Alvarez didn’t seem at peace and they were surrounded by armed strangers, Laila needed to rest and think about rebellion later.

 

_May Queen Yereya rest in peace._

 

She opened her eyes only when soft singing made its way through her light slumber. An elderly woman who was sitting across from them on the other side of the fire was singing in the Elven language. Her ears were round and unmistakably Human, and in her withered hands rested a delicate teacup with a black and yellow drawing of a bee.

 

A look around told Laila that everybody was listening in awe – but their faces were blank and showed no sign of understanding the lyrics. She felt Jeremy’s shoulder shake and when she looked at him, she saw tears straining his face. When the woman reached the last verse, Laila felt teardrops caught in her own lashes.

 

“What is she saying?” Alvarez whispered in Laila’s ear. “Why are you crying?”

 

Laila tried to smile at her friend’s concerned face. “It’s an old song, played at funerals, celebrating those left behind.” Her vision blurred and she was grateful for the warm presence of Jeremy and Alvarez.

 

“Yeah, but what does it _say?”_

 

 _“Oh, you lost world,”_ Laila whispered to the Demon, _“may you find peace.”_

 

 


	5. Living like we're renegades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a line from the song "Renegades" by X Ambassadors.

 

Light streamed in her face and for a moment Laila didn’t know where she was. She felt something soft and fluffy beneath her, and the smell of lavender and fresh sheets drifted into her nose. When she blinked her eyes open she was met by white light, streaming through creamy curtains and onto her face, illuminating a potted lavender plant and cream white sheets. She tasted hair and lifted an arm to brush a strand of silvery hair out of her mouth and face.

 

Taking some time to fully wake up and rub the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up and looked around. Her room was just under the roof and just big enough for a bed and the lavender, the window made out of glass. Her weapons and tattered backpack lay to the feet of her bed on the floor, next to a pile of clean clothes. She looked down and saw that she was wearing another white nightshirt, smelling faintly of lavender.

 

Then the memories came back, about escaping the fire, the walk through the sewer system and finally the strange cafe with people who called Alvarez ‘Sara’ and were part of a rebellion in the name of Queen Yereya, Jeremy’s mother. Eating great pasta and hearing an Elven song and after that another small room with a change of clothes and a hot bathtub. Steph had looked at her elbow and put a sling around it, saying it should be better soon.

 

Carefully, Laila stood up. The room was so low that she couldn’t stand up straight, and her head started spinning, so she sat back down and started to slowly and awkwardly dress in the dark brown pants, a green undershirt and mid-thigh length, sleeveless robes. The slippers from yesterday night were right where she left them.

 

Strapping on some of her daggers under her clothes, she decided she was awake enough to go seek their hosts and maybe get some food. The door creaked softly as Laila stepped through it. She stood atop a flight of stairs and wasn’t surprised to find three more doors just like hers, two of them slightly ajar and letting her glimpse empty beds and a green and leafy plant.

 

The steps groaned under her feet as she descended. At the foot of the stairs she stood in a corridor she dimly remembered from the night before, it was the one that connected the cafe and the backyard. Figuring that food would be on the cafe side, she silently opened the door.

 

She was greeted by the smell of tea and fresh bread. At the bar sat Jeremy and a man Laila thought to have seen the night before. He was tall with a bit of a beard, and he was wearing red robes with gold embroidery. Laila felt the tension in her shoulders relax when she saw Jeremy’s well-rested and carefree posture. She always felt better knowing he was okay. When he smiled at her it seemed like he was a child again, young and unafraid.

 

“Good morning,” the man said. “I’m Raf, and you must be Laila.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Laila replied and returned Jeremy’s smile when she met his eyes.

 

“There’s food and tea,” Raf pointed to a tray on the bar in front of Jeremy. “Feel free to take whatever you like.”

 

“Is Alvarez still asleep?” Laila’s mouth moved before she could think about it.

 

Raf’s friendly expression didn’t waver. “I think she’s awake and training in the backyard.”

 

Laila nodded and placed herself on a stool next to Jeremy. “Hey, Jers.”

 

“Hey, Laila,” he replied.

 

After a few minutes, Raf finished his tea and excused himself.

 

Laila filled a teacup with water and looked around. The cafe was the same as yesterday night, and this time she saw a sign hanging on the inside of the door, declaring the place as closed. She started to pile some of the bread on a plate in front of her, adding some fruit and a piece of cheese before digging in. As she chewed she thought of all the things to say.

 

On the one hand, there was the obvious struggle Alvarez seemed to have. That and the fact that Jean was in Evermore, possibly dying at right this moment, would be reason enough to leave as soon as possible and ignore everything else. Laila had to admit that she was curious about Alvarez’s past, but she wouldn’t pry, just as Alvarez hadn’t pried into her and Jeremy’s history. On the other hand, there was the rebellion. Danielle, a fierce woman, who intended to and did get shit done.

 

“I think Alvarez knows who we are,” Jeremy said then.

 

“Do you want to tell people?” Laila asked. It’s not like they had used false names or anything, so she couldn’t very well be upset. Besides, it was Alvarez. She trusted her.

 

Jeremy hummed noncommittally. “I want to free Jean, help Coralia and live without hiding.”

 

She stopped her eating and looked at him. His brows were knitted together. He seemed at ease, or as much relaxed as she had seen him since leaving the forest court. “That is not an answer.”

 

“I know,” he sighed. “No, actually, I don’t want to tell them. I might have once been Jeremy of Troia, but to these people, I am dead. They fight for my mother, who was a better ruler than I’d ever hope to be. And besides, isn’t it better if they have something honest to fight for, even if it’s only a memory?”

 

“You forget that your mother was not perfect,” Laila said softly. “For example, do you remember all those huge ass ugly vines she planted _everywhere_ in the castle?”

 

That made him laugh. Softly. “I remember.”

 

Laila allowed herself to think of Coral. The proud castle on top of a white cliff, the shores of the endless blue swapping against the stone. The castle itself was a mosaic of high glass windows and domes, the colours of the royal family flying above the tower, where a fire burnt every day and every night, warning sailors of the deadly cliff.

 

“They don’t know me,” Jeremy said. “I am the prince who disappeared for years. I can’t just come back and expect them to accept me.”

 

“You could, but there is no telling of how they would react.” Laila poured herself some tea. “You know, your mother is just the image they need to be united. Together, they have a chance at attempting a rebellion.”

 

“Raf asked me to fight with them,” Jeremy confessed then. “He said we wouldn’t be the first of the Elven Folk, even though I have no idea why he thinks I’m an Elv.”

 

Laila smiled. “You have been living with us – with Elves, I mean, for the past five years. Everything about you, the way you move and interact is different. Besides, most Humans have not met any Elves.”

 

Jeremy laughed. “Yeah. We’re some of the more chill ones.”

 

Laila finished her breakfast first and left Jeremy to himself as the girl named Katie appeared. Laila stopped by her room to get her twin swords and strapped them to her back. Then she walked back down the creaky stairs and took the door into the backyard this time around.

 

The space between the surrounding buildings looked different in daylight. The fire was gone with the benches that had surrounded it, and the potted plants and small trees had been put by the brick walls. In the middle of the open was Alvarez, dressed similar to Laila in black pants, but with purple robes.

 

Alvarez was wielding her long, slightly curved knives in each hand, standing with her knees bent and spine straight in perfect duelling position. She was moving slowly, but her figure radiated strength and sweat glistened on her dark arms, neck and face. Her hair was up in a bun, and for a moment, Laila couldn’t help but stare at Alvarez’s exposed neckline.

 

Then Alvarez slowly turned on one foot, painstakingly slow, and her gaze met Laila’s. Alvarez stilled and Laila stopped breathing. The sun hit Alvarez’s face and suddenly she was like angel from the old myths. The only thing missing was the sprinkles of gold in her path.

 

A slow smile spread on Alvarez’s lips, and the illusion of the angel faded. “Care to join me?” Alvarez asked, smirk confident but a question in her eye.

 

Laila looked down at her left arm that was currently inside a sling, and the thought of moving it made her wince. Nevertheless, she drew one of her twin swords with her good arm. “Let us dance.”

 

Alvarez was in her space in a blur of shadows, but Laila had been expecting it and calmly blocked and dodged the daggers one by one. She stepped around Alvarez in a semicircle and realized her disadvantage, where she was using one arm and one blade, Alvarez had two of both. The length of Laila’s sword came to kick her in the ass not too soon after when Alvarez made a move as if to hug her, but with her daggers, and Laila could do nothing but drop to the ground and roll to the side.

 

That at least bought her some distance, but Alvarez was quickly in her space again, and Laila’s quickly found herself out of breath. She twirled out of Alvarez’s reach and smiled at her. “If I could use both arms, you would be dead by now.”

 

“You could be dead by now too,” Alvarez replied before promptly following Laila and aiming one dagger at her knee and the other at her hip. Her stance was always good and she remembered to turn her upper body halfway so Laila had a smaller target. That is if Laila had the chance to attack and wasn’t too preoccupied.

 

Laila jumped and blocked the knife aimed at her hip with her sword, the clinking of metal on metal just another sound next to their heavy breathing. She stepped onto the other knife, pinning it to the ground and pulling it out of Alvarez’s grasp. She smiled at Alvarez’s sour expression and feinted to the left.

 

Alvarez had no problems seeing through her feint and calmly blocked Laila’s blade, their arms shook from the force of the collision. “How old are you, exactly?” Alvarez asked as she started to attack once again, but this time Laila could attack back without the threat of a second knife between her ribs.

 

“Young, for my kind,” Laila answered, “why do you not like to be called Sara?”

 

Alvarez sighed, though it could also have been from exhaustion. “Long story.” She pushed a potted plant into Laila’s way, who almost sliced it in half. Laila felt sweat pearled on her face and her long silvery hair seemed to be getting in her way most of the time. She should have remembered to bind it back.

 

“In the language of my people,” Laila ducked, “Sara is the word for sun.”

 

“I know,” Alvarez replied, pushing another plant towards Laila.

 

Laila claimed the first hit with her arm rather than her blade, but it was just her underarm, blocking Alvarez’s knife from below. The underarm had more strength that way, and Alvarez had gotten too close to properly use the sword. Alvarez kicked at the back of Laila’s knees which she only barely avoided by jumping away and rolling on the floor, aiming a few kicks herself.

 

Unfortunately for Laila, Alvarez was good. She moved gracefully, and she was fast. But fast didn’t out rule Alvarez’s occasional clumsiness, and Laila was so going to use that to her advantage.

 

When Alvarez stepped too close into Laila’s space again, Laila had a plan. Instead of ducking away or blocking Alvarez’s arm like before, she stepped even closer and knocked the knife out of Alvarez’s hand.

 

She hadn’t anticipated the speed of her movement and fell against Alvarez who, naturally, just fell backwards. Laila held her sword arm away to avoid stabbing any of them and braced for impact. She landed directly on Alvarez, who was disarmed and lying under her, panting hard.

 

Laila couldn’t help but smirk. She slowly and carefully set her sword on the demon’s throat. “I win.”

 

“Kiss me,” Alvarez said, her eyes soft.

 

Up close, Laila could see the smallest of birthmarks on the side of her nose and on her cheek. She threw her sword to the side and leaned down.

 

Alvarez’s lips felt warm and tasted like sweat. Alvarez opened her mouth and Laila felt a tongue brushing against hers. Lips pulling on her lips. She reached up to touch her face and buried her fingers in Alvarez’s hair. As much as that was possible, lying on the ground and all.

 

She felt hands reaching for her waist and slowly moving up, sending shivers down her spine and at last coming to rest on her neck, fingers tugging in her own hair. Her chest constricted and she pulled back, swallowing big gulps of air. When she opened her eyes, Alvarez was smiling up at her.

 

“Ahem,” Jeremy said from behind them. “That was... uh, you know, I feel like I’m third wheeling this? And by this, I mean this entire fic?”

 

“What’s third wheeling?” Alvarez asked confusedly, drawing her brows together.

 

Laila slowly sat up. “Like, carriages sometimes have two wheels –“

 

“You know,” Alvarez said, and the confused look was off her face in an instant, “we should practise more often.” Her eyes wandered up and down Laila’s body, and Laila realized she was straddling Alvarez.

 

“Ahem,” Laila said and sat cross-legged, blushing furiously and picking up her sword on the way. “We could train together more often, but usually we either get attacked by Ravens, caught by Ravens or we need to escape burning buildings. Keeping track of a workout schedule is really difficult under such circumstances.”

 

Alvarez sighed and collected her knives. “You know, I have at least three more knives on my body so I could have stabbed you in the end.”

 

“I know,” and Laila smile. “I was really only hoping you would be as distracted as me.”

 

“Oh, moon and stars,” Jeremy said, rolling his eyes but sitting down with them. “This Raf guy introduced me to a David and some Kevin guy who said he believes that, and I quote, ‘the Sun Prince’ is alive somewhere. Then David wanted to recruit me for the... rebels.”

 

A heavy weight settled in Laila’s gut. She met Jeremy’s eyes. They’d leave today. They’d have to. Not only was the chance too high that someone guessed who they were, the Ravens could also always figure out where the Foxes had a hideout and come to kill them all. And then there was Jean, and they had already lost too much time getting imprisoned.

 

“David? The one with the flame tattoos?” Alvarez asked, her voice only a bit confused. “He’s... he and Abigail are the people making this rebellion possible. Like, financially. Anyways,” Alvarez continued lightly. “What are we looking for in Evermore?”

 

The ground was hard and dry, and the sun burned too hot for the spring day that it was.

 

“My family died five years ago,” Jeremy began. “Until a few days ago I thought my friend had died, too. But then I had this dream, this vision or whatever, and I know he’s alive.” Jeremy’s voice shook at the last word. “That’s why I’m here. If I didn’t believe that there was something, _someone,_ left to save, I would go back to the Forest Court and never return to Coralia.” He looked at Laila. “But coming here has shown me that people are fighting Riko, are fighting the murderers of my family and – and there are thousands of rebels who will fight for freedom. And that gives me hope.”

 

Laila smiled at that.

 

Alvarez looked between the two of them. “You know, I think I have to agree with Kevin.” She looked at Jeremy. “Jeremy of Troia.”

 

Jeremy said nothing.

 

The spring sun was suddenly cold.

 

“It’s true,” Jeremy said at last. “But it doesn’t mean anything.” He met Alvarez’s eyes. “I might be the only living child of Queen Yereya, but to me, she was just my mom. Being born was not my choice, and I only survived the Fall because Laila found me in time.” He took a deep breath and blinked tears away. “I think Riko is an asshole and everybody would be better off without him. But that doesn’t mean I ever wanted to start a rebellion and lead people to their deaths. I just... I just want the best for the people.”

 

Silence was sometimes too heavy.

 

Alvarez nodded. She looked at Laila. “What about you?”

 

“I swore an oath to protect Jeremy,” she answered. “I go where he goes. And if we can kill some Ravens on the way, I would not mind.” She smiled at Jeremy, and he smiled back. “Besides, we need to save Jean if we can.”

 

When she looked at Alvarez, even she was smiling. “I’m with you,” she said. “We can just steal some horses and go.” She sleepily stretched her arms over her head. “But first, I need another bath and a change of clothes.”

 

“And food,” Jeremy nodded.

 

“We literally just had breakfast,” Laila said but got up to follow her friends into the kitchen anyway.

 

 


	6. None of us are angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a line from the song "Speeding cars" by Imogen Heap.

 

Laila felt herself be pushed down onto her mattress. Alvarez’s hair was cold and tickled her neck, but Alvarez’s lips felt like fire on Laila’s neck. She opened her eyes and watched the sun disappear behind the roofs of the surrounding buildings and painting the sky red. The last rays falling through the creamy curtains and the smell of lavender surrounded them.

 

“Alvarez,” Laila breathed when she felt teeth grazing her collarbone. She tugged at Alvarez’s hair and brought their lips back together, wet and hot and wanting. She felt fingers under her clothes on her skin and in return let go of Alvarez’s face to try and pull her robes off her without breaking their kiss. She only succeeded in accidentally tickling the Demon, making them both laugh and inevitably break their kiss.

 

The bed shifted as Alvarez lay down next to her and pulled her into a deep kiss. Her hands lightly trailed down her neck over her chest and settled on her waist, holding on softly and pulling her close. Laila felt her shin bumping against a knee as she swung her leg over Alvarez’s hip. She pulled away and looked into Alvarez’s dark eyes, feeling her breath on her face.

 

Suddenly a loud crash sounded from downstairs, immediately followed by loud voices. Another sound slipped through the crack under the door, a voice that sounded a whole lot like Jeremy’s.

 

Dread twisted in Laila’s stomach. “Oh no,” Laila whispered and pushed herself off Alvarez. The smile on her lover’s lips had faded to a worried expression, with a chunk of sadness her eyes. “I...” Laila started, but where could she end that sentence? _I think that if life was different I would fall in love with you?_

 

“It’s okay,” Alvarez said, voice hoarse.

 

Laila flung the covers blindly off and went for her clothes. She was pretty sure she had the robe on backwards, but as she slipped into her shoes she didn’t care. Deciding that taking her daggers would take too long, she grabbed her twin swords and flew through the door, down the stairs. Her stomach twisted painfully and her chest felt heavy as she tried to breathe.

 

The voices weren’t shouting anymore, but as Laila pushed open the door to the main room the panic settled into determination. Jeremy stood with his back against the wall, empty hands lifted in surrender. Raf stood in front of him, pointing his sword at Jeremy’s throat. There were other people in the room, but Laila paid them no attention.

 

She pushed past a guy standing between her and Raf, and in the next heartbeat she grabbed Raf’s arm and twisted, stepping between him and Jeremy. She easily took Raf’s sword from his fingers, and, ignoring his pained breath, she twisted his arm some more and brought him to his knees.

 

“What. Is going on,” she growled, looking into the shocked faces of the Humans standing in a semicircle around them. There were more people than could possibly live in the house. Michael and Katie stood there, Katie with her hands over her mouth. Then there was Danielle, and David, the guy with the flame tattoos that she recognized from Jeremy’s description. Abigail and Steph. Others that Laila didn’t know by name. And... Laila stopped breathing.

 

In the candlelight of the cafe, the cloak of the newcomer seemed of another world, as if the air had the consistency of water and the shadows were floating in it, creating triangles and cubes and geometrical patterns. Her white hair surrounded her like a halo, her copper-gold skin shined in the light and her dark eyes swallowed everything like black holes. There was a soft smile on her lips.

 

 _Natalie,_ Laila mouthed. She felt like she was hit by a wave of grief and anger, memories of the past. No, not a wave. An ocean.

 

“Laila,” Jeremy said from behind her. “It’s okay. Let Raf go.”

 

“He pointed a sword at you,” she glared, refusing to let go. At Jeremy’s insistent ‘Laila’ she hesitated before squeezing Raf’s arm in warning and reluctantly letting him go. She watched blankly as he shakily got to his feet, clutching his arm. “What happened?”

 

“I am sorry,” Natalie said and Laila couldn’t hide her surprise when she turned to her. “I greeted the Sun Prince by his full name and title, unaware of the fact that everybody present did not know who he is.”

 

“Natalie...” Laila whispered. “Is this you? How...”

 

The blonde Demon shook her head. “My name is Renee now. But I used to be Natalie.”

 

 _“I. Saw. You. Die.”_ Laila stressed each word. “How is this possible?”

 

“There will be time,” Natalie – Renee – said, and glanced at the rebels standing around them, looking in between the Demon and the Elv. “But now there are more pressing matters at hand.” Her eyes found Danielle, who had been standing behind Michael on the other side of the room. “The Demons will join with the Humans against Riko Moriyama, given that the Peace Treaty of Queen Yereya will be renewed and our kingdoms can live together in harmony.”

 

Danielle nodded. “That’d be mutually agreeable. Riko has taken too much from us all.” Her eyes found Jeremy. “Maybe the return of one we all thought dead is a sign the gods are on our side.”

 

“No!” Raf stepped into Danielle’s space. “I don’t care about the gods. Just like you shouldn’t care about a random stranger. It was an Elv and a Demon who brought him here. We cannot trust that this is really Jeremy of Troia.”

 

“Yeah we can,” a voice interrupted, and Alvarez stepped into the room. She was dressed in a yellow robe, and her knives were strapped to her waist, fully visible. Her hair was braided, and not a hair was out of place. “He has the Sun of Coral on his wrist.” Her eyes met Laila’s, and Laila thought she saw a ghost of a smile on her face.

 

The room seemed to collectively hold its breath.

 

Laila felt Jeremy’s warmth next to her. She heard him sucking in a deep breath.

 

“It’s true,” he said. He pushed up the sleeve in his left arm and showed the small golden sun on his inner arm. The Sun of Coral. “I am Jeremy of Troia. For the last five years, I was hidden and protected in the Forest Court.”

 

“So what?” Raf said, gesticulating agitatedly. “Why did you only return now? What’s your goal?” His rising voice was angry and full of fire. He stepped towards Jeremy, pointing his finger at him. “Why didn’t you say who you were in the first place?”

 

Laila casually stepped in front of Jeremy and stared Raf down.

 

“Whatever the case,” Danielle intervened, sounding authoritative, “we don’t have much time. Yesterday, we killed the Ravens positioned here, in Palmetto. Today, the same thing is happening all over Coralia.” She looked around the room, seizing everybody up and filling the space with determination. “We need to act fast, while Riko is distracted. We’ll meet the Demons in Penan, and to do that, we must travel tonight.”

 

Danielle finally turned to Jeremy, Laila and Alvarez who stood on Jeremy’s other side. “Come with us. Fight for freedom and for the memory of Yereya.” A hint of a smile appeared on her lips as she continued. “A Human, an Elv and a Demon. Only together do we have a chance of defeating the Raven King. Are you with us?”

 

Laila looked at Jeremy. There was hope in his eyes, hope that she hadn’t seen in years. Laila’s heart hurt at the sight. The boy who only cared about his childhood friend was a man who was ready to save his kingdom.

 

“Yes,” Jeremy answered. “When do we start?”

 

The door of the cafe was thrown open, shattering the glass window. A tall Human with a tattoo on his cheekbone stood there, breathing hard. He swept black hair out of his face, revealing green, sparkling eyes. “Jeremy of Troia,” he gasped, before bowing deeply and then crossing the room in two huge steps. He took Jeremy’s hands, visibly shaking. “I’m honoured. I mean, I’m sorry for not knowing who you were this morning, I’m –“

 

“Kevin,” Danielle sighed. “The fuck.”

 

“Right,” Kevin said, stepping back. “Sorry.”

 

Danielle turned to the room. “Everybody, get ready to travel. We’ll leave at midnight.” With a last glance at Jeremy, she left the house and the others in the room followed. David took Kevin’s arm and dragged him out, mumbling a formal goodbye to Jeremy.

 

Once almost everyone else left, Steph dragged Michael and Katie to the back of the house, ignoring the way they were both staring at Jeremy and Alvarez. At last, only Natalie – Renee – stood before them.

 

“How is this possible?” Laila asked, noticing the colours on the tips of Natalie’s – Renee’s – white hair. Pastel rainbow.

 

“How is what possible?” Alvarez looked between Laila and Natalie – Renee. “Who are you?”

 

“I’m Renee,” she answered.

 

“That’s an Elvish name,” Jeremy pointed out. “It means ‘reborn.’ Since when do Demons have Elvish names?” He looked at Alvarez.

 

Laila shook her head. “Wait. _How?”_

 

“I died trying to protect Yereya.” Renee’s voice softened at the name of the deceased Queen. “But then I heard a voice. I don’t know how it happened, but I woke along the shores of Coralia.” She pulled a chair from a table and sat, motioning for the trio to join her.

 

“I realised,” Renee continued, “that there must be a reason that I’m alive. So I looked for resistance to the Raven’s reign and found Dan and David, and then I knew that this was the reason I came back. It turns out I’m a great spy.” She smiled. “I didn’t know Jeremy was still alive. But I am glad.”

 

Laila couldn’t help the smile on her face. “Starting a rebellion does sound an awful lot like you. What’s the plan?”

 

The next hours passed in a blur. Steph handed Laila new boots and a warm coat to pull over her robes, saying something about cold winds. Laila accidentally overheard Alvarez in the next room, saying she hadn’t planned to come back to Palmetto and being interrupted by Steph’s soothing voice. They packed until all the time they had left was gone.

 

Laila stood out on the dusty street, seeing the cafe for the first time from outside. It was a cute building, with walls painted in the softest orange, and behind its windows stood small succulents. The buildings on the street looked similar in build, with the same shape of windows and roofs, only varying by colour and decorations.

 

The sound of hooves and soft puffing came before the sight of three horses led by Michael and Katie, emerging from the night. They pressed the reins in Jeremy’s and Laila’s open hands, silently telling them to wait so they’d fetch horses for themselves. Calmly stroking the noses of the animals given to her watch, Laila looked up at the sky. Stars greeted her, the same as she’d seen every night in the Forest Court. The moon was its usual self of the mountains of red and gold, its presence silent and reassuring.

 

Laila did not feel the tension in her body loosen.

 

“... not important to me,” Alvarez snapped, storming out of the cafe, storms in her eyes. Steph followed closely. “You lied to me. What did you think, all those years ago, when you took me in?”

 

“Sara, I love you like –”

 

“You don’t have the right to call me that,” Alvarez turned away with finality. Something stony settled in her face. Her slender fingers quivered as she took the reins of the deep brown mare out of Laila’s hands. She didn’t meet her eyes.

 

“Come back, will you?” Steph’s tone was softer now, and her shoulders hunched. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

 

Alvarez said nothing. Katie appeared out of the darkness, this time already on the back of a black stallion. Behind her, Michael rode another and led a third horse next to him, loaded with bags.

 

“It’s time,” Katie said.

 

Laila, Jeremy and Alvarez mounted their horses, while both Katie and Michael said their goodbye to Steph, who watched them leave until they rounded a corner and she could see them no more.

 

They rode through the dark village in silence, and soon their street opened up to a square filled with voices and the sound of horses.

 

A white mare stopped before them, and her rider’s torchlight illuminated Danielle’s face. “You’re late,” she only said before finding Jeremy’s eyes. “We’re about fifty who will ride with us tonight, more will follow. Don’t stay behind.”

 

Jeremy nodded, and Dan turned her horse away, lifting her torch over her head.

 

The entire body of riders got moving and filed away behind Danielle, who presumably headed to the road leading out of Palmetto and in the direction of Penan and then towards Evermore. In the mass of cloaks and hoods, Laila spotted a particular white-haired Demon, who smiled in her direction before passing them.

 

“Come on,” Alvarez said, and Laila noticed how Katie and Michael were already ahead.

 

Laila clicked her tongue and her horse followed Alvarez. The houses of Palmetto were quickly left behind in the darkness, and the road took a sharp turn to the left and over a bridge not long after. In the darkness, Laila could see nothing but stars, stars and stars stretching from one horizon to the other. No trees obscured her view, but she doubted she’d notice them anyway. Shrubbery lined the road, but behind them, there was only darkness and the wind.

 

In the cold, she was thankful for the woollen coat Steph had given her. The mare beneath her felt warm, and Laila wished she had asked for her name.

 

“What happened between you and Steph?” Jeremy asked quietly, leading his mare between Alvarez and Laila. “She seemed genuinely concerned.”

 

Alvarez shook her head. “She wanted to stop me from leaving. It’s... a long story.” When neither Jeremy nor Laila replied, she sighed. “I guess we have time. And like, you two are my friends, right?” She chuckled.

 

“I’d hope so,” Jeremy said seriously, but Laila could hear his smile.

 

“Definitely,” she agreed. “But only because a particular cool moose is your friend, and we’re using you to get to him. And you kiss pretty okay.”

 

Alvarez’s laugh felt like warm sunshine on an autumn evening, and Laila’s heart fluttered like it had transformed into a bird and wanted to be free. “It all happened like, a long time ago. You know, I don’t actually remember much of my childhood. I just know that I used to travel with my parents. Like, we had a wagon. I’m almost sure they were like merchants or something.”

 

“How did you end up with Steph then?” Jeremy asked.

 

“Steph killed them.” Alvarez said it as if she was talking about how the sky was particularly clear tonight. “She killed them, and when she noticed they’d had a child with them, she took me in and pretended to be my mother. I only noticed I was different from everybody else because my shadows were always with me. Imagine my surprise when my adopted siblings told me about how Steph used to be a knight, a hunter, and she hunted my kind. _Sara_ is the only thing I have left of my real family, and Steph calling me that...”

 

“Shit,” Jeremy said with feeling.

 

“Yeah.” Alvarez breathed. “I used to leave every now and then, and I befriended the moose that way, you know. But I always came back. There aren’t many Demons in Coralia, have never been, even before the entire thing with Riko happened. I guess she stopped Demon hunting when she adopted me, all those years ago.”

 

Laila hummed. “That is what the Peace Treaty of Queen Yereya was ultimately about. Stopping the murder of innocents and to trade wisdom and knowledge with the immortals. Her ways of regency were very effective, unlike those of a particular asshole we’re trying to kill.”

 

“Ugh,” Jeremy said. “Is this a history lesson? We _know_ that Riko kinda killed all Elves and Demons who didn’t join him or flee.”

 

“Riko is but a blink in the life of an immortal, Jeremy,” Laila said and couldn’t help the sadness in her voice. “I just wish Coralia had been prepared.”

 

“I don’t actually feel that immortal,” Alvarez joked. “I mean, I have no idea of magic and all that useful Demon stuff. I might as well be a Human.”

 

“Then you would be a very pretty Human,” Laila replied.

 

Jeremy snorted. “Are you saying Humans are ugly?”

 

“I am taking the higher road of silence,” Laila laughed.

 

“And yet you’re not shutting up, Laila,” Jeremy teased. The fact that Alvarez was smiling was important.

 

They rode in comfortable silence, watching as the moon disappeared and the night turned into day. The morning was gray and cold as they stopped next to a pond to share some bread and eggs while the horses drank.

 

Clouds darkened the horizons as they passed a few lonely farms, and at midday, they rode through an old ghost village, the wooden roofs of the stone buildings burnt to nothing. It was as if nobody had set foot in it since the day the people there left.

 

They didn’t stop. The abandoned fields around them slowly turned into hills, with trees and shrubs taking back former farmland. Laila didn’t spot any animals and hoped it was only due to avoidance of the stampede of the horses they rode upon. The road led through a small forest, and Laila welcomed the escape from the harsh winds.

 

The light was dull but Danielle ordered a stop when the road was parted by a tiny river so that the horses could drink while their riders could walk on their own two feet.

 

A bird chirped a melody, so different from the melodies the birds in the Forest Court used to sing. A sting of homesickness hit Laila unexpected, but she tried to shake it off and turn her thoughts away from her people. Chances were they’d wait until Riko’s natural death until leaving the immortal forest.

 

She glared at anyone who looked like they wanted to speak to Jeremy until he rolled his eyes and went to talk to Kevin, leaving Laila and Alvarez surrounded by strangers. Laila couldn’t even spot Renee, even though she knew she was somewhere among the rebels.

 

“Tell me about your family,” Alvarez said softly, leaning against a tree.

 

Laila noticed the gleam in her eyes and their failure in masking the dark bags that surrounded them. “Family means something different in the Forest Court,” Laila shrugged. “I remember my mother from when I was really young. She used to tell me stories about the stars.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Nothing happened. I became a Warrior and she went back to her life. I have not talked to her in years.” A voice in Laila’s head told her that that probably wasn’t a normal thing for Humans – or Demons, in this case. “Uhm,” she added.

 

Alvarez carefully laced her fingers with Laila’s. The warmth and softness of her skin was a promise, but of what, Laila didn’t know.

 

“Everybody!” Danielle called. “If we ride fast, we’ll reach Penan by nightfall. Let’s go!”

 

The clearing was filled with immediate shuffling and calling as everyone ended their rest in favour of searching for their horse. Alvarez let go of Laila’s hand and left her in the cold as she went to find her mare, with Laila following only a moment later.

 

Jeremy found them when they had each reached their horses, and Laila again remembered that she hadn’t asked for her mare’s name. There was still a long journey ahead, and Laila knew that everybody was tired, but the horses kept a fast pace and the impending deadline hung over everyone’s head, keeping them awake.

 

The trees started thinning only a few minutes later, letting more and more sunlight fall through the blanket of leaves covering the road. To one side, Jeremy’s face and posture was lined with determination. To the other, Alvarez met her eyes and smiled. Laila started to return the smile when the riders in front of them called for a halt.

 

There were others before her, obstructing her sight. Laila let go of her reins, trusting her mare not to run away when she was surrounded by so many of her friends, and stood up on the saddle, overlooking the rebels and the grassy hills that stretched to the horizon.

 

Blue skies greeted her, the gray clouds from the morning nowhere to be seen. Blue skies, green spring grass and a tower of smoke far off on the horizon, black and grey. So this was why they had stopped. Laila sat down, careful not to fall onto her mare’s back or move her weight too quickly to not startle or hurt her.

 

“There is a pillar of smoke rising,” she informed Jeremy and Alvarez. “I would guess it is from Penan, since I do not know of another town between here and Evermore.”

 

“Listen up!” Danielle yelled from the front. “We’re going into Penan, and if the Ravens are still there, we kill them!”

 

The rebels yelled back their agreement and Danielle galloped ahead, the others following. Laila’s mare didn’t need her prompting to join the flow, and she only tugged on the reins once to not stray away from her friends. She thought she spotted Renee’s light hair somewhere in front of her, but then it was gone again.

 

Soon Laila felt sweat on her forehead, the heat of the sun brutally attempting to smother her. The mood was grim but they didn’t stop. Minutes ticked by and Laila absentmindedly petted her mare’s damp neck.

 

“What if we just run into a flock of Ravens,” Laila muttered under her breath, “and while we are tired as fuck, they make toast out of us.”

 

“That would be quite shitty,” Jeremy agreed. “Let’s like, hope or something.”

 

Hours passed in a blur and it seemed to take days. The horses led them up the edge of the valley until they reached the top of a hill. Suddenly the wind turned and Laila was hit by the smell of smoke and ash.

 

Laila guided her mare off the road and into the grass. She stopped when she was close to Renee, overlooking Penan. The small city was divided by a river and surrounded by a wall barely high enough to stop chicken from escaping. No city in Coralia was built for war.

 

Smoke rose from the city hall and the surrounding buildings, no fire visible. On the market square, free from the fire and ash, the red and gold flag of Troia fluttered.

 

“It seems the Mountain Court made it to our rendezvous before us,” Renee said.

 

“Good,” Danielle replied and led the way towards the city gate.

 

Excited chatter broke out around Laila, and she took the time to finally observe her companions. They were all young, around the same age as Jeremy, maybe, or in their mid-twenties at most. Laila honestly didn’t know how to feel about that.

 

Someone stopped next to her. “Come on,” Alvarez said. “Aren’t you excited to meet some Demons?”

 

“Y’all,” Jeremy said as he stopped between them. “Since when has the flag of the Mountain Court the same colours as that of my family?”

 

Laila hummed. “Let’s find out.”

 

The trio was the last to enter Penan. The grass was tainted gray. The wind blew ashes in their faces like snow and the smoke took the breath from their lungs. The street went straight up to the market square, and it was filled with people. Most of them had pieces of cloth over their mouths and noses, but that didn’t stop the whispering reaching their ears.

 

They looked poor, their clothes more often than not dirty. They passed families of five, none of whom were wearing shoes, and elderly men who relied heavily on others and broken sticks for support. Some had recent injuries, the blood on their shirts not yet dry. The marketplace opened before them, and Laila’s breath hitched. She’d only heard stories of the Demon King, but she recognized him on the spot.

 

He wasn’t tall. He was many things, but not tall. His dirty blond hair fell over dark eyes, his skin ashen against the black of his clothes and shadows swirling around his feet. Renee went to stand next to the King and his scowling twin brother. Although the two shared features, there was no mistaking the Demon King from the legendary healer.

 

“Jeremy of Troia,” the Demon King greeted. “It is really you. I must admit, I was curious.”

Jeremy elegantly hopped off his horse with Laila and Alvarez quick to follow. “It’s an honour, your grace.” He bowed slightly, the way Queen Yereya bowed to the Demons all those years ago.

 

“My name is Andrew,” Andrew drawled and returned the bow. “I must admit, I would have let you all die if it were not for –“

 

A shadow materialised between them, quickly taking the shape of a woman. She was tall, ridiculously so when compared to Andrew, and her hair was of a much shinier blond than that of the Demon King. She wore a red dress with matching nails and made the striking impression of someone you would not dare cross.

 

“Andrew,” she drawled. “I know I’m not supposed to insult the Forest Court, but could you be so kind and make an exception just this once?” She turned to Renee. “Hello, darling.”

 

Andrew cleared his throat. “An Elven Warrior is literally right here,” he pointed out. “I take it they refused to send aid?”

 

The red-dressed Demon turned to Laila and gave her a once over. “Your Court is staying neutral. Why are you here?”

 

“I’m with Jeremy,” Laila coolly replied.

 

She nodded and turned to Jeremy. “It seems like you’re back.” With that, she disappeared, leaving behind only a cloud of black that faded to shadows that faded to nothing.

 

Andrew picked his nails. “Well, then, I’m afraid I’m bored. Renee, would you be so kind as to inform me of the further developments later?” When she agreed, he brought two fingers to his temple before pointing them to the sky. Then he was gone. The tension left with him, and the square was quickly filled with conversation and busy shuffling around.

 

Renee smiled. “I think it’s good for him that he leaves his Court every now and then.”

 

“How do you do that?” Alvarez called, excitement in her voice. “Like, the appearing and disappearing in shadows thing? That is _so cool.”_

 

Renee’s brows furrowed. “Have you ever been to the Mountain Court?”

 

“Um, no?” Alvarez asked. “Should I have?”

 

“Would you like to go now?” Renee asked. “We could be back in a few hours.”

 

“I...” Alvarez said and looked at Laila.

 

“I trust Renee,” Laila felt the need to say, “and I know you want to know more about magic.”

 

“I agree,” Jeremy said. “And we’ll see each other soon, right?”

 

“Would it really be okay?” Alvarez asked Renee. “I mean, don’t you have things to do?”

 

“It’s fine,” Renee said, smiling. “I’d be delighted to speak to you more, anyway.”

 

Alvarez quickly hugged Jeremy goodbye. “I knew you were cool once my friend the moose licked your face,” she said fondly. Then she turned to Laila. “And I knew you were right when you said ‘she doesn’t know what she’s doing’ that first time we met in the forest. I honestly do not.”

 

Laila nodded. Alvarez wasn’t leaving for long, but distance... “Come back soon?”

 

Alvarez quickly pressed her lips against Laila’s. “Promise.”

 

Then she took Renee’s hand and they both disappeared in a swirl of shadows. Where they had stood, not even footprints were left. Laila immediately missed her.

 

“Come on,” Jeremy said. “Let’s find stables for the horses.”

 

 


	7. You got the best of me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a line from the song "You got the best of me" by BTS.

 

Laila startled awake.

 

The door clicked shut and footsteps tapped on the floor. Some clothes rustled, and Laila smiled as she vaguely made out Alvarez in the dark of the small room she had been assigned to. The space was barely big enough for two slim mattresses on the floor and a tiny drawer in a corner, but it made do. Except – there were only two beds. And Jeremy was sleeping in one of them.

 

“Move over,” Alvarez whispered.

 

Cool air hit Laila’s feet and then a warm body was draped to her side. Laila moved to the edge of her mattress and allowed Alvarez to tangle their legs together. Laila shivered when Alvarez buried her head in Laila’s neck and slung an arm across Laila’s waist.

 

“I know how to travel through the shadows now,” Alvarez said quietly.

 

Laila tangled her fingers in her lover’s hair.

 

“I wish I was mortal.” Alvarez gently stroked Laila’s skin under their blanket. “Did you know Demons believe less in gods and more in a Darkness that will one day claim us all?”

 

“No,” Laila said softly. “My people believe that the gods live on the moon. They believe the Elven Folk are the silver lining in a world of Darkness.”

 

“And do you believe that?” Alvarez asked.

 

“Not anymore,” Laila answered, smiling. “I believe that every star is a sun and that they are just too far away to reach sometimes. But not always. How else would I explain your existence?”

 

Alvarez nuzzled closer.

 

 _Sara means sun,_ is what Laila didn’t say. And Laila was just one of the many names of the moon.

 

The thought of distance and starlight kept her awake, feeling the gentle rise and fall of Alvarez’s chest and listening to her breathing. Exhaustion demanded rest but she couldn’t close her eyes. She watched the darkness in the room turn to corners as the grey morning light swept in. The day was beginning, and if all went according to plan, Riko would be dead by tomorrow morning.

 

She heard Jeremy mutter in his sleep, uneasily turning from side to side. If all went according to plan, they’d free Jean. Laila didn’t know what would happen after that.

 

Loud-voiced and steel clattering against steel filtered through the window as the city woke up. She knew that now was probably her last chance of getting sleep, but she felt wide awake.

 

How had it only been a few days since they left the Forest Court? And how did the Elves react to Laila’s actions? Ever since the Moriyama family invaded, the Elves had been insistent on their self-proclaimed exile. Nobody was allowed to leave if it were not on direct orders from the Eldest in the Court. And yet Laila and Jeremy had just... left.

 

Her heart tugged inside of her. She longed for leaves above and trees around her. Was this homesickness? How did she feel like that when Alvarez lay in her arms, sleeping, and Jeremy lay next to her, alive?

 

She forcefully pushed the feeling away. There were more pressing matters at hand.

 

She heard the floor just outside of her door creaking with heavy, slow and tired steps and took it as a sign to wake up. She tapped Alvarez’s shoulder, smiling at Alvarez’s groan. Adjusting her weight, she sat up and leaned down to kiss Alvarez.

 

Alvarez’s lips felt soft on hers, and Alvarez’s feather light touches on her face tickled her. When she opened her eyes and pulled away, Alvarez was smiling up at her, awake. “Good morning.”

 

“Good morning to you, too,” Laila replied.

 

Jeremy’s breathing got their attention. He muttered under his breath, an expression of pain on his features. He squirmed then, and Laila was by his side in a matter of heartbeats, touching his shoulder, shaking him awake.

 

“Jers,” she said calmly. “Wake up. It’s okay.”

 

 _“Jean,”_ Jeremy whispered, twitching violently. With a gasp he shot upright, breathing heavily. He shuddered before his eyes cleared and focused on Laila. “What time is it?”

 

“I am not sure,” Laila replied, “but I think we will be expected to be awake soon.”

 

A knock on the door confirmed her words.

 

Laila swiftly shrugged on her robes above her shirt, and opened the door. A tall man Laila had never seen before smiled down at her. He had dark brown skin, and black locks, with a smile too bright for the early morning. “Good morning,” Laila greeted politely.

 

“Hello!” The man said. “I’m Matt, I’m Dan’s partner and she asked me to get you some food before we leave,” Matt handed over a basket with bread, fruits and cheese. Laila was happy to also notice flasks of tea and water.

 

“Thank you, Matt,” she said. “My name is Laila, and this is Jeremy and Alvarez.” She gestured at her friends who had joined her at the door.

 

“I know,” Matt said and his smile was even bigger. Then he blushed and his smile wavered. His eyes suddenly found everything but their faces interesting. “I mean, everybody knows who you are.”

 

“Word travels fast, huh,” Jeremy said. “I honestly don’t know what to say. Um...”

 

Matt quickly excused himself with an awkward bow. Laila closed the door and they sat in a circle around the basket. Laila watched Alvarez stuff her face with sweet bread and subtly concealed her smile.

 

“Food ish litera’y eh besht ‘ing,” Alvarez tried to say with a full mouth. Laila and Jeremy hummed their agreement through equally stuffed mouths.

 

“I don’t get why everybody is so polite though,” Jeremy said once he’d swallowed. “Like, what’s with the bowing?”

 

Laila hummed noncommittally.

 

“They started this rebellion in the name of your mom,” Alvarez explained, “that means they think she or her family have the respect of the people.”

 

“How old are you even,” Jeremy muttered.

 

“Older than you,” Alvarez muttered back.

 

“It is not polite to ask an immortal of their age, Jers,” Laila said softly and earned a sigh in return.

 

After finishing breakfast and carefully strapping all her knives to her body, Laila brushed her hair with her fingers and braided it out of her face. Alvarez played with her shadows, forming them into knives between her fingers and dissolving them to back dust, her expression carefully guarded. Jeremy stretched.

 

Laila was surprised to feel calm. The presence of both Jeremy and Alvarez was... something new. They were together in this, no matter what would come after.

 

The risen sun was bright, despite the early morning, when they stepped out on the street. For a moment, Laila had no idea what to do. Awkwardly stand around until somebody told them what to do? Sounded like the only thing she could do. Everybody walking around seemed to know what was going on.

 

Luckily, they were spotted by Michael, who pointed them in the direction of the stables and told them to get their horses ready, as they would be leaving soon. The movements of getting ready with a horse were familiar and the next minutes passed in a blur. Her mare’s warm breath reminded her a bit of the moose. Before mounting, she made sure none of the daggers on her legs or in her boots would hurt either her or the horse, and discreetly stole a saddlebag full of carrots from the stable.

 

Not long after joining the rebels on the market square, Matt came by telling them to stay close to Danielle throughout the day and to inform them that more rebels had arrived during the night and had set up camp outside of Penan’s walls. Laila recognized only a few of the Humans around them and watched as they didn’t try to hide their curious staring at Jeremy. She couldn’t guess if they were excited because of the rebellion itself or of the fact that Jeremy was here. She settled for ignoring their curious glances.

 

Renee joined Laila, Jeremy and Alvarez in waiting, seated on a tall white mare. Her smile was kind. Laila found herself wondering what had happened to bring her back from the dead, and what made her choose a different name, but decided it was ultimately none of her business and she didn’t want to reopen old wounds.

 

“It’s strange,” Renee said. “To be alive at a point in history, where so many things can be decided.”

 

Laila just nodded, while Jeremy looked a little green. He’d dreamt of Jean again. Laila didn’t know if she had woken him in time or if he was simply used the nightmare – vision by now.

 

Before she could decide if she should ask after it or not, it was time to leave, and Laila was distracted by concentrating on not losing her friends in the crowd. The landscape didn’t change. The hills and grassy plains stretched on and on, only interrupted by a tiny river every now and then and the accompanying shrubbery. The sun was up in the sky, and the moon was just setting on the horizon, disappearing behind one of the higher hills.

 

She only felt that time had passed by the time her stomach rumbled uncomfortably. The sun was well on its way to the horizon when the road turned at the foot of one of the taller hills and black towers rose in the distance. The shapes were hazy from the distance but it was unmistakably Evermore, built with black marble and giving the impression of too much drama to be actually good at ruling a country.

 

The castle was surrounded by a high wall, and around it, the city spread. Pretty buildings sat near the black walls, a contrast to the edges of town where the buildings were not much more than pillars with a shabby roof. There was no outer city wall, no gates to protect the innocent civilians who happened to live there.

 

Laila knew that Danielle and Renee – and Jeremy, if asked – would not harm bystanders, as their only goal was Riko. Still, Raven soldiers could go undercover to attack them... or, Laila and Jeremy could do that and find a way into the castle as “normal” citizens? Unlikely, as they had a small army with them and Ravens probably wouldn’t let civilians in even on a good day.

 

Laila’s thighs ached as she adjusted her weight in the saddle. Horse riding just wasn’t something Elven Warriors did regularly. Not anymore, anyway. She tasted bitterness on her tongue, remembering that the Demons had visited the Forest Court to ask for a union and her Folk had declined.

 

Not far away from a welcoming sign, tents had been set up. They were small and few, not noticeable enough to be seen from a distance, but the closer the head of the rebel procession came, the more movement Laila spotted around them.

 

Andrew was standing in front of the biggest tent, this time alone. It didn’t take Laila long to notice that the movement she spotted before were all Demons, hanging out and talking in groups or polishing weapons. Demons didn’t need horses to travel, she remembered. And they’d hardly need tents to camp, as they could go and leave as they wished. Laila winced when her feet touched the solid ground, her whole body sore from the long ride.

 

“Andrew,” Danielle greeted in a way that let on she hadn’t just spent hours on the back of a horse. “I see you’ve surrounded the capital.”

 

“Indeed,” Andrew drawled. “We have also assessed the defence and found a way in. Do come inside.” He led the way into the tent, pushing away the light brown cloth that hung over the entrance.

 

The room was spacious and a round table stood in its midst, a detailed drawing of the castle and the surrounded city lay displayed. A Demon with dark brown skin Laila vaguely remembered looked up and smiled. Laila walked next to Jeremy, and Alvarez stayed on his other side. Dan and Renee were joined by the blonde Demon from Penan who introduced herself as Allison. Laila wasn’t surprised to see Matt trailing after Danielle, followed by David and his son, Kevin, and Abigail. Laila hadn’t even realised Abigail was with them.

 

“Hello there, I’m Nicholas,” greeted the vaguely familiar Demon. His eyes found Jeremy and he smiled fondly. Then he was crossing the room and hugging the Prince. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

 

“Nicky?” Jeremy asked. “Didn’t you leave Coralia years ago?”

 

Nicky looked away. “I heard about what happened, and then… I had to come back.”

 

“It’s okay,” Jeremy said. “Do you remember Jean?”

 

Nicky brightened. “Yeah! Kinda tall, too mysterious for his age and always looking at the sea?” When Jeremy only nodded, Nicky’s eyes turned sad. “Is he...”

 

“He’s in the castle,” Laila said, taking notice of how everybody in the room was uncomfortable shifting on their feet.

 

“Laila!” Nicky greeted. “I’m so glad you exist, assuming you were the one who saved the little one –“

 

“Hey!”

 

“... and I guess we should get on with the plan,” Nicky ruffled Jeremy’s hair affectionately. He looked around the room and eyed up everybody present. “We must be careful. There are Demons and magicians behind the walls of Evermore, and just as we plan to tear them apart, they’re plotting our downfall. Even though we can’t really fall, because we’re not on a place we can fall _off_ of...”

 

Nicky relayed a plan, detailing its strength and weaknesses, and when he was done, Danielle and Kevin started bombarding him with questions.

 

By the time that they exited the tent and Danielle and Andrew started their commands, the shadows had grown long and the air had turned cold.

 

Shouts filled the air, and everyone busied themselves.

 

Laila, Jeremy and Alvarez watched silently from the shadow of the tent as the Humans and Demons alike assembled, some on horseback and some not. She felt a pang of hurt remembering that some of them would die tonight.

 

It wasn’t long until Michael and Katie came up to them and led the way towards a small group of trees. Horses waited there, chewing on the grass around the oak they were bound to. Still, she stroked the nose of her horse and met its gaze before climbing up.

 

“The river is that way,” Michael said and led the way.

 

Five horses weren’t exactly unnoticeable, but when a rebel army of almost a thousand waited in front of one’s city to attack, five horses disappearing were a lot more difficult to notice. The trees hid them from plain sight and the setting sun would do the rest. The noise from the rebel army faded. Laila’s stomach twisted. She had to believe.

 

They followed a small path that looked like deer used it just as much as the locals, and soon it was too dark to see where the horses were stepping. Cold air kissed her face. Soon they heard splattering and gurgling, but it took a while until they reached a small clearing by a riverbed.

 

Nicholas had put his plan into effect early, with confidence that it was the most possible way. A hooded figure stepped out of the shadows of trees, holding long paddles and leaning heavily on them.

 

“About time,” a crispy voice said. “My name is Trav, and I’m gonna say this only once: silence is important, but if you move too fast, you will catch the eye of somebody you’d rather never meet.”

 

Jeremy had the audacity to smile. “I’m sure we don’t actually want to meet most of the people we’re going to meet, but I get your point, I guess.”

 

Trav snorted. “You’ll be in a boat with me then, princeling.”

 

He handed them each a dark cloak and told them to pull the hood up. When they had all done so to his satisfaction he led them to three small, thin boats and handed Laila and Michael a paddle each. Laila climbed into one of the boats after Alvarez, who leaned back to undo the knot in the rope binding them to the shrubbery. The water was dark and the current seemed slow, but the boat shifted beneath her feet. Laila was filled with the sudden and strong determination that she did not want to go swimming.

 

Trav climbed into a boat with Jeremy, and Alvarez’s stepsiblings took the last one. Trav motioned for them to follow him and steered his boat into the middle of the river, moving slowly and making minimal noise.

 

Laila breathed out, quietly, and followed his lead. Like Trav, she remained standing but sat down on her heels as soon as the river left the protection of the trees. She slowly pulled her hood further info her face, even when an instinctual part of her screamed that she was limiting her sight. Alvarez’s back was turned to her but she thought she could feel her warmth through the space separating them.

 

All too soon the river brought them directly into the city, and if Laila hadn’t been walking through a sewer merely days ago, she’d think the smell that slowly started to come from the water was the worst thing she ever experienced. One of these days someone would have to invent functional sewers and stop the pollution of rivers and seas.

 

The river itself floated a few metres below ground level, with steep riverbanks laid out with stone, just in case of a flood. The streets were quiet, but that was to be expected. Evermore was under attack.

 

Out of the darkness, the black walls of the castle loomed into the sky. The river didn’t actually flow through castle grounds, but it did flow directly past its wall. Every side of the castle was usually heavily guarded, but Nicholas had thought they’d stand a fighting chance going in as a small group and taking the castle down from the inside while the occupants were distracted with the attack from the outside.

 

Laila steered her boat behind Trav’s as he slowly went close to the wall. Up close she could make up cracks in the wall where the blocks of stone were put on top of each other. They weren’t ideal, but they’d do. She carefully watched how Trav slid from his boat and onto the wall with ease, Jeremy following his example. Their boat travelled away.

 

Alvarez disappeared in a swirl of shadows, some of them hitting Laila in the face. It felt like soft clothes or leaves of a tree, but she still blinked, irritated. She shook her head. Alvarez knew herself. Laila trailed her hands along the wall until she found a crack and lifted herself away from her boat with ease. A look around told her that Trav and Jeremy were already on their way up, slowly, and Katie and Michael were struggling to find a hold on the wall.

 

Finding hold with her feet, Laila started to hoist herself up on the wall. The stone was slippery and not meant for climbing, and she tried to breathe quietly, but she arrived on top of the wall before her companions anyway. Alvarez was smiling at her, and Laila was stunned for a moment. Had her lover’s smile always been this beautiful? This blinding?

 

“Hey,” Alvarez said.

 

“Hey yourself,” Laila replied, suddenly out of breath. Only her training as a Warrior made her look around. They stood on the walls of Evermore, overlooking the dark river, the city, and the small backyard inside the wall. Towers rose up, some bigger than others, some higher than the towers of the castle Jeremy had grown up in.

 

Jeremy reached the top of the wall and collapsed, breathing hard. “I hate climbing,” he whispered and moved his fingers pain strikingly slow. “Everything hurts and I don’t think I have arms anymore.”

 

“Pull yourself together, princeling,” Trav said from where his head appeared on the wall. “A bit of breaking into enemy castle can’t be that bad if you’ve lived with the Elven Folk for five years. Heard they live in the trees.”

 

Jeremy chuckled. “I used to be afraid of heights. I guess I just overcame that fear with time.”

 

“You lived in _trees?”_ Alvarez asked, bewildered.

 

“Yes,” Laila replied seriously. “Elves are actually birds.” Alvarez’s laugh might be the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard right then.

 

“Can someone help us up, please,” Katie said from where she was clutching onto the wall, her knuckles white. “We really should have thought of ropes.”

 

Laila and Trev pulled Katie up and then helped Michael. Trev led the way along the walls to stairs that led down to the garden. From the smell of herbs and soil Laila concluded it was a servant’s garden and that the kitchens might be nearby. It was only when they reached a door to inside that she started to feel as if something was off.

 

Trev slowly tried the handle but it wouldn’t open, so he took some wire from his pockets and went to his knees. A minute later and the door clicked open.

 

“Wait,” Laila said, “have you been here before? How do you know where we need to go?”

 

“I used to work here,” Trev answered back quietly. “Normally it isn’t this empty but... I guess the fact that nobody’s around means most of the servants left the castle.”

 

Laila nodded. That would be an explanation. They followed Trev, who whispered instructions whenever they turned a corner but didn’t light a candle in fear of being seen. As soon as they stepped out of the servant’s quarters, the corridors and rooms were dimly lit by torches. The black stone swallowed the light and their shadows loomed high around them.

 

Their footsteps echoed louder than what was comfortable for Laila, but her feeling of wrongness turned to confusion. “Where are the guards? Are there no regular patrols?”

 

Trev turned to her, his brows furrowed. “That’s what I’ve been wondering,” he confessed.

 

He opened his mouth to continue, but shouts and screams rang in the distance, followed by the sound of metal against metal.

 

Laila nodded. That was answer enough. The rebels had begun their final blow against Riko. It was all or nothing. Trev looked faintly sick at the prospect of fighting, as did Katie and Michael. When Laila met Jeremy’s eyes, he looked tired.

 

“Y’all,” Alvarez said. “We need to hurry, don’t we? Prisoners first, get Jean and anyone who can fight, then go and help Dan and everybody get in, and kill Riko if he doesn’t find and kill us before that?”

 

Katie and Michael nodded.

 

“We have a plan,” Alvarez said. “Let’s stick to it.”

 

Trav pressed his lips together. “I know. I honestly wouldn’t know what to do, otherwise.”

 

They hurried along a wide corridor past big windows that opened to blackness. They took a flight of stairs down, then another and another. With every level they passed, the ceiling seemed to fall lower and lower.

 

At last, they reached the part of the dungeons with the prison cells. It was even darker here. Thick iron doors lined both sides of the corridor and there lay a sinister feeling in the air. Small windows let them peer into the cells, but all of them were empty. When they reached the end of the corridor they found that the looming darkness was not an unlit part of the corridor, but a dead end.

 

“I think,” Laila said slowly and near a whisper, “that this is a trap and we need to get out of this castle.” She looked her companions in the face. Katie and Michael were both pale as ghosts, while the others looked grim. At a second glance, Laila made out panic under Jeremy’s cool facade.

 

That’s when they heard it. Rhythmic footsteps, from somewhere above them, quickly getting louder and nearer. Laila turned to Trav. “The fastest way up. Where is it?”

 

Trav paled a bit but started running without argument. The five of them followed, not caring about the echoing walls and their heavy steps. They reached the foot of the staircase they’d come from, but a figure clad in black stood on top of them and pointed at them, shouting at the people behind him.

 

“Servant’s staircase,” Trav panted and went down a small corridor Laila hadn’t noticed. It was darker here, and there were no more halls that led to other rooms or places. Trav reached a door and kicked it open. A narrow staircase spiralled up.

 

Laila went first, not wasting time to think about the Ravens behind them. She went up and past the door to the level above them, and then another one, slowly beginning to notice that her lungs didn’t seem to be big enough for air. Objectively, her brain came to the conclusion that shit wasn’t good, but subjectively, her senses were on high alert.

 

That high alertness and the adrenaline required to function in stressful situations was what made her notice the noise coming from above. While she estimated to be about two storeys below ground level, she knew that the Ravens coming down the same stairs at them were also about one staircase above them.

 

She cursed, colourfully, and kicked the door to her left. She didn’t know where it would lead but she could hope there weren’t any soldiers in hiding in front of it. Alvarez was behind her, a worried expression on her face, but Laila shoved her out of the staircase and drew two daggers that were hidden on her thighs.

 

Jeremy and Katie cleverly followed Alvarez, and Michael and Trav reached the door at the same time as the first Raven did.

 

The servant’s staircase was narrow, the stairs sometimes uneven. So while two servants could walk past each other, two heavily armed guards could not. This was her advantage. One on one, she was faster than them, and she wouldn’t use her long swords as they’d only be in the way.

 

The guard’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw that Laila had faced him, but he didn’t have enough time to block the dagger Laila shoved into his lower stomach, stabbing past the armour covering his chest and upper stomach. The man let out a pained groan as he fell to the floor. Laila slashed the second guard’s throat before the third had the brains to block her dagger with his armoured arm.

 

Her second dagger in her other hand found his unprotected armpit and he screamed as he went down. She left the servants staircase and smashed the door closed behind her. A door wouldn’t stop the Ravens for long, but she already waited too long to catch up with her friends. She caught sight of Trav’s coat vanishing behind a corner and sprinted to keep up.

 

Shouting followed her, but she hoped she had at least gotten some time. An arrow sailed past her and she looked back. They hadn’t gained on her, but if they had arrows only luck and their bad aim would help her.

 

Laila nearly ran into Katie’s back as she stopped in front of her. They stood in the hall surrounding the main staircase, and Laila didn’t actually need to look around to know they were screwed.

 

It was lighter than when they had come in, and definitely more crowded. Raven’s formed a line at the stairs going up and blocked the stairs going down (not that going down would save them now). All the other corridors and doors were blocked by more guards, some of them carrying torches – the light – and the others pointed at them with bows and arrows. A glance over her shoulder told her that the guards from the servant’s stairs covered the way they had come from. Naturally.

 

The Ravens standing on the stairs up parted to let another Raven through. Her armour was blood red, a signal of her higher position. Laila discretely wiped her daggers on her cloak and put them back into the hidden pockets on her thigh.

 

“We’ve been expecting you,” the red Raven said, her lips curling into what might be a smile.

 

Laila stepped in front of her companions. “Fuck you,” she said, using the sweetest tone she could ever remember using and smiled.

 

The red Raven disregarded her, what Laila thought was rather rude. “Which one of you is the Troian heir?”

 

Laila pointedly did not move to step in front of Jeremy, as that would only give away that she was trying to protect him before the others – but he stepped forward all on his own. If the situation wouldn’t be this life-threatening, she might have joked about him having a death wish.

 

“Where’s Jean?” Jeremy asked with a steady voice.

 

The Raven just laughed. “You’ll see. Bind their wrists, take their weapons. And take their cloaks, they might hide something in them. If they refuse to cooperate, kill them. Except him,” she nodded at Jeremy, “the king wants him alive.”

 

Laila was calm when a short guard took off her cloak and twin swords, and she was calm as the guard bound her hands in front of her. She took the time to look at the woman’s face, at the small red raven on her chest, and at the one strand of hair that fell into her eyes. Laila was calm when they were led up the grand staircase, not stopping at ground level and climbing higher. Laila was calm when she noticed that her companions, now without the dark cloaks, were the only spots of colour in Evermore.

 

She wasn’t calm when they reached what looked like a throne room, the high ceiling stretching into the darkness and windows – for once – showing the city lights below and the darkness beyond. The moon was there, fiery and gold and beautiful, so far away. But then a voice violently brought her back in front of a throne made of black marble, and she faced the cold and passive expression of Riko Moriyama.

 

“What a... pleasant surprise.” He was flanked by four Demons, all of them dressed in blood red – and the red Raven that had met them before in the dungeons. Shadows floated around their ankles and behind their shoulders and Laila cursed for not having noticed earlier.

 

At Riko’s feet, facing them, knelt a dark-haired boy Laila faintly remembered. Jean wore dark, dusty pants and a shirt that might have been light once, before it got ripped and cut and drenched in blood. Jean’s face was the worst to look at. His lips were split and his jaw and cheekbones were swollen and violet, grey eyes ringed in bruises and dark circles, his left cheekbone was a mess of blood and skin.

 

Jeremy whispered something that vaguely sounded like _Jean._

 

“Our tracking spell worked, as I see,” Riko said smugly.

 

 _“What_ did you _do?”_ Jeremy shouted out, voice breaking from anger or hurt – Laila could not tell. She’d washed his family’s blood off his face and comforted him after countless nightmares. And yet she could do nothing but watch as his face crumpled up and his shoulders slumped.

 

Riko chuckled. “I, per se, didn’t do anything. Jean here was so kind as to tell you a reason to stop hiding. Magic is like that sometimes.”

 

An explosion sounded, the ground beneath their feet shook as one of the windows shattered, shards of glass falling onto the Ravens who’d stood there. A glance outside told Laila that the city lights she had spotted were not, in fact, lights, but fires. And it seemed someone had just exploded the castle wall.

 

“What are they doing?” Riko leapt to his feet, staring outside with disgust. Then he waved his arms at his soldiers. “Go, all of you! No rebel is to set foot in my home!”

 

The woman who had bound Laila, as well as the guards who had disarmed her companions, let their hostage’s weapons and cloaks fall to the floor near the entrance as they left, the metal clattering unceremoniously. Laila suppressed a cringe, but she didn’t really mind her swords being so far out of reach, as she was still armed with six daggers under her clothes. What she did worry about were the Demons who stood impassively to the side of Riko’s throne and the fact that any of her companions could be killed for doing something stupid.

 

“What the fuck do you even want?” Alvarez said, taking a step forward, glaring death at the Raven King. In Laila’s book, this counted as something stupid.

 

“Everything I want,” Riko said, spreading his arms, “I already have.”

 

Jean whimpered and Jeremy let his cut binds fall from his wrist, a tiny blade catching the light between his fingers. He rushed forward to Jean’s side. Laila took this movement as a distraction to bend down to her feet, swiftly taking three small knives from the sole of her boot and cutting the rope on her wrist.

 

Riko only laughed and sat back down on his throne. “This has been fun. Kill them.”

 

Laila threw her knives. By sheer luck, one of them found the eye of a Red Raven and he went down, while another hit the throat of the one who had caught them. The dead Demons hit the ground with a thud before fading to shadows, leaving behind nothing, only air.

 

The third knife pinched the shoulder of another one, but he only grimaced and gripped his broadsword stronger. When he came at her, she noticed that she had been wrong. An Elv stood before her, dressed in the armour of Riko Moriyama. He was taller and broader than her, and death loomed in his eyes. The Elv stabbed at her with his halberd and Laila scrambled for her daggers.

 

From the corner of her eye, she saw Alvarez parading the attack of the fourth Red Raven, and Katie and Michael both stood between the last Raven and Jeremy, who was caught up trying to bandage Jean’s wounds.

 

Laila dodged the Elv’s first strike, sidestepping and slashing at his side. She missed, and twirled before stopping his weapon with her dagger. Her arm shook with the force, but she didn’t waste time and buried her other dagger in his throat.

 

Warm blood splashed on her face and over her hand, but he went down, his corpse landing heavily on the stone floor.

 

She saw Alvarez across the room ducking away from her attacker, stepping into his space to stab his sides. She saw Katie’s bleeding leg and Michael’s arm being slashed by the last of the Ravens. She saw Trav wrapping one of their discarded cloaks around Jean’s frame, desperately trying to drag him backwards, and Jeremy, shielding Jean with his own body, facing Riko with no fear in his blue eyes.

 

Riko, who was walking towards Jeremy as if in slow motion, lifting a loaded crossbow.

 

“No!” Laila screamed and her feet were moving towards Jeremy, towards the boy she had sworn to protect. In life and death. Riko had taken Jeremy’s family, but Laila had vowed to not let him take Jeremy.

 

The Raven King lifted the crossbow and fired.

 

Jeremy’s eyes met Laila’s and she thought she saw his lips moving, but her vision blurred. A shadow filled the space between Jeremy and Riko, and Laila made out only dark hair and brown skin, before the bold hit Alvarez in the centre of her chest.

 

Her body caved as she fell backwards.

 

Laila screamed.

 

She reached Alvarez right before she hit the ground and pulled her in close, grasping the bleeding body.

 

“Alvarez,” she whispered. Her lover smiled up at her. “You’re gonna be fine,” Laila told her.

 

The throne room doors flew open with a bang. With tears on her face, Laila looked up for only a second to see Andrew walk in before turning back to her lover.

 

“You’re gonna be fine, Alvarez,” Laila repeated and tried to bring her trembling lips to smile reassuringly.

 

“I love you,” Alvarez said. Blood was spreading fast on Alvarez’s shirt and on the floor around them.

 

“You can’t die,” Laila insisted, ignoring the cold that settled in her stomach. “Sara means _Sun,_ which means _you_ cannot die, because the sun...” Her chest constricted painfully. She couldn’t breathe, but Alvarez was there, was smiling up at her with the warmest eyes Laila had ever seen.

 

“One day, every sun will die,” Alvarez breathed. “You’ll be all right, Laila.”

 

Alvarez’s face relaxed.

 

Laila’s sobs shook her body. She felt as if the bold had hit her in the heart, too, as if her lungs refused to cooperate and as if her stomach had turned to ice. She lifted her hands to try to wipe her eyes but they were red, dark red, like the Raven Crest.

 

Her lover’s shadows playfully tugged at Alvarez’s hair before flickering and disappearing, and then Alvarez herself slowly vanished. Laila’s hands went through Alvarez, and Laila could do nothing but watch as Alvarez flickered out of existence. A Demon’s death never left any traces. Her hands were dry.

 

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She relished the warmth it brought and hated it. She closed her eyes.

 

“Come on,” Jeremy said quietly. “Evermore holds nothing but death.”

 

 


	8. Epilogue

 

Coral, the capital city of Coralia was beautiful even after the time of hunger and war that had sucked the life out of it. From her spot by one of the windows, she was overlooking the sea and the artful buildings situated a short distance inland, around the river that flowed into the sea not far from the cliff the Coral castle stood upon. She could spot small dots moving around the roads and alleys, and carriages being pulled by horses.

 

Coral was singing with life, and Laila had never felt more disconnected. She turned and walked to the window on the opposite side of the hall. The bright blue sea stretched on as far as she could see, the wind painting white foam crowns onto the waves. The sun burned with summer heat and the sky was clear and blue, touching the sea in the distance.

 

How was it already summer? Laila couldn’t imagine. It felt like no time had passed since she was with Alvarez and Jeremy, getting imprisoned by a flock of Ravens because Jeremy insulted them, breaking out of a burning prison through the sewers. It hadn’t been nice at the time, but they had _lived._ Alvarez had lived _so fiercely._

 

Laila heard footsteps and looked up. It wasn’t often that anybody visited the castle. Jeremy had taken to live in the city, to be closer to the people he wanted to help. Laila was usually with him, but in the past week, she’d distanced herself. She missed Alvarez. Laila didn’t think wandering through empty halls would help her in any way, but she craved the quiet.

 

Renee rounded a corner, smiling softly when she noticed Laila. She had her white hair pulled into a bun and her copper-gold skin glowed in the light. The shadows around her fell into geometrical patterns, like a cloak of mist. Renee carried some leafy plants in her hands, holding them gently.

 

“I did not know you came here,” Laila said by way of greeting.

 

“I came to speak to you.” Renee turned her eyes to the line where the sky met the sea. Laila couldn’t remember the last time they spoke. After Evermore, Laila only remembered a blur of the victory celebrations. She had been told that the Demon King had killed Riko, just moments after he’d shot Alvarez. Jeremy had been ridiculously involved in restoring his kingdom ever since. “Did Alvarez ever tell you what I taught her the night before she... the night in Penan?”

 

“Only that she could travel from place to place now, with the shadows and...” Laila shook her head. This skill had made her death possible. If she hadn’t stood in front of Jeremy... Jeremy would be dead. And there was no way Laila would ever be able to make that choice, not in all of her immortal life.

 

Renee nodded. “Yes, that too. But the first thing she asked me was if we had been together at some point.”

 

Laila snorted and turned to face Renee. “That’s ridiculous.”

 

“Well,” Renee shrugged, “seeing as you were pretty shaken about me being alive, I suppose it was justified.”

 

Laila just stared at her.

 

“Okay, okay,” Renee lifted her hands, but seeing as they weren’t empty her gesture meant nothing. “I told her we hadn’t ever been together, and that the reason you were so shaken was because I was a sort of childhood friend of yours. I taught you the little magic you know, after all.”

 

“I don’t know why you always pretend to be so angelic,” Laila said, “since you really are not.”

 

“Are we not all trying to make the most of our existence?” Renee’s expression turned serious. “Life and death are fickle things. Fate and chance are known to direct us, but in the end, it’s our choice. It’s our choice how to exist. It’s our choice if to exist. It’s our choice what to do. Some think power is the only real force in the world, while others, wiser ones, think the only thing that's real is fear.”

 

“Alvarez told me Demons believe in a Darkness that will one day claim us all,” Laila said. “Elves believe that Darkness is already a part of the world, but there is a silver lining on the horizon.”

 

Renee chuckled. “And the Elven Folk represent that light?”

 

Laila almost smiled. “We aren’t known for modesty.”

 

Renee held out her hands with the greens. “Let’s plant these, shall we?” She held lavender in her palm, the pastel green turning to brown as the stems turned into roots. One of the stems was topped by a small, lilac blossom. In her other hand, a small green-leafed plant sat, complete with a bit of dirt around its roots.

 

Laila furrowed her brows. “What are these?”

 

“Mind and lavender, obviously,” Renee noted. “Remember the vines and flowers Yereya used to grow?”

 

Laila looked around the wide hall they were in. Empty flower pots lined the walls of the entire castle. She remembered the bright flowers and miniature trees vividly, as well as the huge vines that had outgrown their pots and started to climb up the pillars in the entire castle. Vines weren’t good for stone, as they stuck on it and would damage it eventually, but Yereya hadn’t cared. If something had had flowers and leaves, she had loved it.

 

On the small windowsill lay the remnants of a ceramic pot, and Renee wasted no time by magically reattaching the shards and filling it with dirt. Laila dug a small hole and accepted the lavender Renee handed her. She carefully buried its roots. Renee put the smaller mint plant next to it and sprinkled water over them.

 

“Why?” Laila asked.

 

“Why, what?” Renee tilted her head.

 

“Why do this?” Laila said, emotion finding its way into her voice. “I know you basically planned the rebellion, but why? Why plant those,” she gestured to the plants, “and why did Alvarez...” Laila’s voice broke. She shut her eyes.

 

“Alvarez knew you had dedicated your life to Jeremy. And I think she knew that you could never choose one of them. So she made the choice for you.” Laila didn’t think she’d ever heard Renee speak softer. “I’m sorry, Laila.”

 

Laila let her tears fall. Like gravity pulled the droplets of water onto the flowerpots, she felt like she had loved Alvarez.

 

“Jeremy asked me to tell you he wanted to speak to you,” Renee said after a moment. “I think he’ll be on the cliff.”

 

“Farewell,” Laila whispered and walked away. Renee didn’t follow her.

 

Her footsteps were the only sound as she passed the throne room. The two thrones – one for the queen and one for the king – stood atop seven stairs, the once white marble had turned gray and the once delicate carvings of leaves were nearly invisible. The windows reached from the floor to the high ceiling, the pillars between them holding up the glass dome. Magnificent but empty and quiet, the wind’s voice was nothing but a faint whisper, praying in memory of the dead.

 

The grand gate made of marble and silver groaned as she pulled it open wide enough to slip through. A sandy road wound its way down towards the city, and the yellow and purple flowers that lined it created an illusion as if the last five and a half years hadn’t even happened. The ever-present meadow flowers didn’t seem to care about war or peace. Laila didn’t know whether to find that comforting.

 

Laila turned away from the city and made her way through the knee-deep sea of grass and flowers. She didn’t find a path, but as she approached the cliff ocean’s spray sprinkled her hair and the grass declined to a soft carpet. Salty wind hit her face and knocked the air out of her lungs, and the sound of waves crashing against the stone to her side filled her senses for a moment. She sucked in a breath and continued walking.

 

She saw him facing the sea a few hundred meters away. The wind played with his long, Troian red cloak, and as Laila got nearer to him she could see the mess the sea-wind had made of his hair. It had grown longer over the past months.

 

He turned to her and smiled warmly. “One of these days people are going to think you’re a ghost, haunting the halls of the castle.”

 

Laila chuckled and looked back at the sparkling glass of the white castle. Jeremy’s family had never bothered to build a wall, as there had never been the need. Instead, it was a piece of art, all angles and high glass windows and glass domes. She remembered the red and gold flags adorning its highest tower and the green vines and colourful flowers lining every surface.

 

“What do you want to do?” Jeremy asked.

 

“I don’t know,” answered Laila truthfully. When she met his eyes, she was surprised to see his face so serious. “Do you have any plans?”

 

Jeremy shook his head. “I know you’d do anything for me. You’re my best friend. But you need to let me go.”

 

“I swore an oath, Jers,” Laila reminded him. “I will be with you, in life and death. I never regretted making that oath. Even with everything that happened in spring, even with all that happened before... I would do it again.” Her chest hurt, but she knew she was saying the truth. And she knew Jeremy knew it was the truth.

 

“Maybe you would,” Jeremy agreed. “But I wouldn’t. I know Al... Alvarez meant something different, something _more_ to you, but I can’t... I don’t ever want to see you dead,” he concluded. “Maybe we both need to find our own path. Our own redemption.”

 

Laila felt a pull on their bond. She faced the ocean and watched as the crescent of earth’s twin planet rose behind the horizon. The red of the moon was a stark contrast to the deep blue of their sky, but it faded nevertheless. The setting sun’s rays sprinkled the moon in gold.

 

Her eyes wandered to the castle. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but for a moment the old castle seemed alight in colours.

 

“Jeremy,” Laila said. “I never told her I love her.”

 

“I’m sure she knew.” He put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her.

 

Laila bit back tears.

 

“And maybe she’s so pissed at you that she’ll come back from the dead just to make you say it, and then stay. Who knows? Renee was reborn. Anybody could be. Although I do hope I’ll never have to see any Raven again. Except for actual birds, those are fine.”

 

“Yeah,” Laila murmured, pressing her face to Jeremy’s shoulder. He’d grown taller, and more mature. Maybe he was right. Maybe they needed to find redemption for themselves. “The world is starting anew.”

 

They stayed like that for a long while until Jeremy slowly pulled back. “If you’ll excuse me,” he smiled, “Jean came to pick me up.”

 

Laila didn’t comment on the tears in his eyes. “Be happy.”

 

She watched him walk towards his lover, who had arrived on horseback and was waiting a polite distance away as to not disturb them. Jean was doing well. His cheek had healed well, and while he still wasn’t okay, the number of days where she’d see him with a smile increased steadily.

 

The tides were changing. A glance at the sky told her that it was still too light to see any stars, but she knew they’d show up.

 

Jean waved and she waved back.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> An angel aka [jeeanmoreau](http://jeeanmoreau.tumblr.com) pulled me out of a big writing slump and we motivated each other to press letters on our keyboards.
> 
> Again, thank you to my artist & beta, Bobby Joe Bubblegum and his Troop of Bouncing Bees :3 Without your beta skills this would be so unreadable, and did I mention your art makes me cry? You are incredible and you make this world real.
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Find the artist here: [tumblr](https://sisaloofafump.tumblr.com) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/sisaloofafump/)  
> Find me here: [tumblr](https://thespacebetweenworlds.tumblr.com)


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